Population segmentation

ABSTRACT

Segments used to select content to be targeted to a user are recursively refined based on continuously derived user characteristics. Based on information gathered from new requests for targeted content and/or user interaction with previously delivered content the user is assigned to one or additional targeted segments. The targeted segments can be used to select content to be delivered to the user based on the user&#39;s assignment to the targeted segments. Accordingly, each user is grouped into one or more targeted segments and based on the user&#39;s inclusion in those segments, requests for targeted content can be served to the user.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to electronic content delivery and morespecifically to intelligent targeting of invitational content to a userbased on user characteristics.

2. Introduction

Targeted content delivery has long been an accepted means of conveying adesired message to an audience. Instead of creating a single message anddelivering it to every member of the general public, content providersattempt to identify a particular segment of the population that islikely to have the greatest interest in their message. For example, acontent provider might wish to convey a message regarding a serviceoffered in a particular city. To convey this message, the contentprovider could send out a flyer to all residents of the city. However,if the service is only of interest to residents that own their own home,then targeting all residents of the city is suboptimal for the contentprovider. Instead, the content provider will attempt to segment thepopulation of city residents into home owners and non-home owners andthen only distribute their message to the segment of the population thatare home owners. Population segmentation enables content providers tooptimize their resources.

The development of digital content delivery has enabled new techniquesof identifying population segments. For example, segments characterizedby mobile device users or users that visit social networking sites.However, these segmentation techniques are often overly simplistic ortoo broad because they are based on a limited number of usercharacteristics.

SUMMARY

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosedprinciples. The features and advantages of the disclosure can berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and otherfeatures of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing description and appended claims, or can be learned by thepractice of the principles set forth herein.

The present technology provides mechanisms for compiling usercharacteristics, using those characteristics to associate users with oneor more segments of the population, ordering or providing a priority tothose segments based on user interest, content provider goals, and/orcontent delivery system goals, and ultimately delivering targetedinvitational content to the user.

When a user, or a user's device, makes a request for targeted contentfrom the content delivery system, the user is sharing some amount ofinformation about him in the request. For example, at a minimum, theuser must share some information about the device identification numberso that the content delivery system knows which device to send thecontent back to. Frequently, requests for content can include a muchricher collection of data including information about software runningon the device, a particular application requesting the content, theconnection type of the device, etc. Often a device is associated with anaccount and in such instances account information is also known andstored as user characteristics. In short, the user shares a good deal ofinformation about him, even if the data isn't about personal attributes,when he makes a request for data. All of this data can be stored inassociation with the user as a user characteristic.

Further user characteristics can be learned by the content deliverysystem by mechanisms other than through the actual request for content.In some embodiments, information about a user's interaction withcontent, searches conducted by a user, and other usage data can belearned. Additionally, data can be looked up in public databases andassociated with a user. For example, if a user's home address is known,Census data can be used to learn potential demographic information aboutthe user based on the predominate characteristics of the population ofpeople that live in the user's home town. Again, all of this informationcan be stored as user characteristics.

Knowing characteristics of a user can be valuable in selecting whichcontent is most suitable for delivery to a user. Accordingly, thepresent technology provides for compiling a collection of usercharacteristics. Using characteristics that are already known about theuser, the present technology can look up additional characteristics orcan infer additional characteristics.

Of course some user characteristics are considered personal in nature orprivate and such information should be handled with care. As isdiscussed in more detail below, such user characteristics are handledonly in accordance with applicable laws and governing privacy policies.In many instances, the user is further able to opt-in or opt-out of datacollection and/or usage. Further steps can also be taken includingdeleting user characteristics after they have been used to infer otherless personal characteristics or used to select content to be deliveredto the user.

As addressed above, in some embodiments, user characteristics areinferred from a limited set of known user characteristics. This can bedone in a variety of fashions. In some embodiments, a first user can becompared against all other users to find a similar user and usercharacteristics for the first user can be inferred to be the same asthose associated with the similar user.

In some embodiments, user characteristics can be inferred using a seriesof assignment algorithms. In one example, a user's gender can beinferred from the preferred salutation they use. A user having asalutation of “Mr.” is likely male, and a user having a salutation of“Mrs.” is likely female. Thus gender can be inferred for some users. Avariety of other user characteristics can be inferred from the limitedset of information already known about the user.

Since many user characteristics are being inferred, it is also useful toprovide confidence scores to indicate the likelihood that a given usercharacteristic is correct. For example, in the embodiments where agender is inferred from a salutation the system might assign aconfidence score of 95% because a user's salutation usually is a goodindication of their gender. However, in the embodiments wherein a user'scharacteristics are based on other similar users, the confidence scoremight only be 50%.

In instances wherein the confidence score is not sufficient, the systemcan continue to pursue that user characteristic to gain additionalconfidence in it. If the system derives the same characteristic valuesrepeatedly, the confidence might be increased. Another way to havegreater confidence in an inferred or derived user characteristic is byhaving a larger sample size. For example, if there are many similarusers and they all have the same value for a given characteristic theninferring that the first user has the same characteristic might belikely.

Another way of deriving user characteristics is through a user'sproducts. Products should be broadly thought of as any product orcontent that a user owns, has previously purchased, is consideringpurchasing, has viewed in an online store or advertisement, etc. From acollection of products the system can infer many user characteristics.For example, if the user owns an item of digital content targeted atteenagers, the system can infer that the user is a teenager. Of course,inferences made based on one product might have a low confidence scorebecause of the small sample size. One way to increase the sample size isto look more broadly at all the content or, more generally, productsthat the user owns and infer that the user is a member of thepredominate age group for which those products were targeted or intendedor purchased. Another way to increase the sample size is to use asimilarity algorithm, such as a product similarity software routine tofind similar products to one or more products associated with the user.The similarity algorithm can identify other products that co-occur withthe first product in other users' purchase histories or contentlibraries. Accordingly, the collection of similar products will providea better data set from which to infer a user characteristic, such asage.

As will be discussed below, there are many other ways to infer usercharacteristics. The goal being to derive a complete set of quality usercharacteristic data. The library of user characteristics is used toidentify and place the user into one or more targeted segments, whichare associated with content to be delivered to the users in the targetedsegments. Accordingly, each user is grouped into one or more targetedsegments and, based on the user's inclusion in those segments, requestsfor targeted content can be served to the user. The list of targetedsegments to which a user belongs is also stored by the content deliverysystem.

The collection of targeted segments to which a user belongs isrepeatedly updated. The content delivery system is always learning anduser characteristics are always being refined and, in some instances,even changing. Based on the new and additional information the systemcan recompile or update the list of segments to which a user belongs.

In some embodiments, the content delivery system can send an item oftargeted invitational content to a user based on the user's inclusion ina segment. Based on the user's interaction with the targeted content,and/or one or more other user characteristics, the system can assign theuser to a new segment and then target invitational content to the userbased on the user's inclusion in the new segment.

While greater detail on individual segments is provided below, a usercan be assigned to one or more segments based on demographics,behaviors, inferred interests, progress along a conversion continuum,location, etc. For example, some segments are purely demographic whereina user is assigned to a segment because the user is of a specifiedgender and age range—for example, male age 25-39. Segments can be basedon inferred interests such as based on the inference that a user isinterested in purchasing an automobile based on user characteristicsindicating a recent string of searches for automobiles or an increase intime spent viewing automotive related content. Segments can be based onhow likely a user is to convert a given item of invitational contentbased on how much time a user has spent viewing related content orwhether the user has clicked on the invitational content in the past.Segments can be based on location such as when user characteristic dataindicates a user lives in California, but her current location is NewYork, the user can be placed into a segment for travelers. Segments canalso be assigned based on any blending of user characteristics such ascar buyers with the money to purchase a car.

Not only can segments be created and assigned by the content deliverysystem, but in some embodiments content providers can create their ownsegments. Since the content providers are often creating the contentwith a specific target audience in mind, the content delivery systemprovides a user interface to allow the content providers or other usersof the system to create custom targeted segments. The system can providea user interface with all user characteristics collected by the systemor all targeted segments available. Using the interface, the contentprovider can select different user characteristics or segments and mixand match the categories to result in a new segment. The interface alsopresents all available values associated with a user characteristiccategory for more refined selection by the content provider. The contentprovider can select one or more values or ranges of values in creatingthe custom segment.

The interface also allows assignment of weights to be associated withthe selected categories to refine the created custom segment. In someembodiments, the system allows a content provider to specify at leastone weighting function for causing the content delivery system toprovide a differential selection of content associated with a portion ofthe collection of characteristic values during fulfillment of the bookedelectronic campaign.

In some embodiments, the custom segment is created by selecting aplurality of target users and using characteristics that the targetusers have in common to define the custom segment.

In some embodiments, the system can also save the custom segments forlater use by the provider or other providers.

In some embodiments, the segments the user is assigned to can be areflection of a user's context or mode. A user's context includes auser's behavioral patterns, state-of-mind, or interest in one or moretopics, content, or products in general. A user's mode includes a user'scontext in a broader sense of any factor relevant to how a user mightview or respond to being presented with targeted content.

While a user can be assigned to many different segments, the user islikely to be most interested in content that she is presently interestedin. While the user might be in a segment for her demographic of female,married, with a child, and accordingly one of her interests isfrequently parenting content, today she is planning a vacation so thecontent that is most suited to the user is vacationing related content.In such an example, the user may have been assigned to segments relatedto parenting and travel, but the more recent user characteristicssuggest that traveling is on her mind. In such an example, both theparenting segment and the travel segment should not be considered equalby the system. Thus the system can prioritize or rank or order segmentsbased on the user's present interests, contexts, or modes. In such anexample, the system selects travel related targeted content to send tothe user before, or more often than, parenting content.

Just as the system can order the segments according to the user'scontext, the system can also order or prioritize or rank segments basedon the content provider's or content delivery system's goal orpriorities. A content provider might desire for its content to bedelivered to users in specific segments, or might desire for its contentto be viewed by a certain number of users. In some embodiments, thecontent delivery system can have obligated itself to meet the goals ofthe content provider. Of course, it can be appreciated that given thelimited number of users, and the potentially competing goals orinterests of the content delivery system to meet each of its obligationsto each of the content providers with the interests of the individualcontent providers, the prioritization of some targeted segments overothers can require optimization to meet the needs of all parties to thesystem.

Accordingly, the content delivery system can monitor its performance inmeeting any known goals, and should the content delivery systemrecognize that its progress towards meeting a goal is not satisfactory,the content delivery system can prioritize some segments over others tomeet one or more goals.

It should be recognized that reprioritizing a selection of segments canimpact other system and content provider goals. Accordingly, the systemcan also be provided with a performance predictor. The performancepredictor is a “what if” scenario engine that can run a series ofprediction models to predict the optimum prioritization of segments toresult in the best performance of the system. Such a performancepredictor can predict performance based on past, observed results fromserving similar content in the past. For example, in previous campaignsit can be known that if the system targets a user expected to be lookingfor a rental car with content related to a first rental car company,that more often than not, the user will not click or convert targetedcontent related to a second rental car company. Based on such pastperformance, the system can predict that rearranging the priorities ofthe system might negatively impact one or more campaigns and look for adifferent arrangement of priorities to optimize the performance of thesystem towards meeting all system and provider goals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the principles briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of devices and a network;

FIG. 2 illustrates a sampling of events that can be known to the contentdelivery network;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a user characteristic space;

FIGS. 4A-C illustrate an overview of matching invitational content withusers via segmentation;

FIG. 5 illustrates an overview of an exemplary user segmentationprocess;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method embodiment for deriving unknownuser characteristics;

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary collection of user characteristicvalues collected from a population of users;

FIG. 7B illustrates an exemplary collection of user characteristicvalues collected from a population of users with a derived value;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary method deriving an unknown gendercharacteristic;

FIG. 9A illustrates a first exemplary method for inferring the gendercharacteristic;

FIG. 9B illustrates a second exemplary method for inferring the gendercharacteristic;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a current zip codeuser characteristic value;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a home zip codeuser characteristic value;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a current city usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a home city usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a current DMA usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a home DMA usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a country usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a current time zoneuser characteristic value;

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a home time zoneuser characteristic value;

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a date and day partuser characteristic value;

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving an age range usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving life stage andmarital status user characteristic values;

FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a life stage usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 23 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving an ethnicity usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving an income usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a preferredpurchase category user characteristic value;

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a spend level usercharacteristic value;

FIG. 27 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a purchasefrequency user characteristic value;

FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary method for deriving a work-home-commuteuser characteristic value;

FIG. 29 illustrates an exemplary method embodiment for generating acustom targeted segment;

FIG. 30 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface for creating acustom targeted segment;

FIG. 31 illustrates an exemplary method embodiment for selectinginvitational content to send to the user based on demographicsegmentation;

FIG. 32 illustrates an exemplary method embodiment for selectinginvitational content to send to the user based on behavioralsegmentation;

FIG. 33 illustrates an exemplary method embodiment for prioritizingtargeted segments associated with a user;

FIG. 34 illustrates an exemplary segment assignment prioritizationprocess; and

FIG. 35 illustrates an example system embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.The present disclosure addresses the need in the art for improvedmethods of selecting targeted content presented to a user based oncharacteristics descriptive of the user and/or the user's interactionwith one or more items of targeted content.

The presently disclosed system and method is particularly useful formatching targeted content with a user in a manner that leads to a higherprobability of conversion. An exemplary system configuration 100 isillustrated in FIG. 1 wherein electronic devices communicate via anetwork for purposes of exchanging content and other data. The systemcan be configured for use on a local area network such as thatillustrated in FIG. 1. However, the present principles are applicable toa wide variety of network configurations that facilitate theintercommunication of electronic devices. For example, each of thecomponents of system 100 in FIG. 1 can be implemented in a localized ordistributed fashion in a network.

In system 100, content packages are delivered to user terminals 102 ₁ .. . 102 _(n) (collectively “102”) connected to a network 104 by directand/or indirect communications with a content delivery system 106. Inparticular, the content delivery system 106 receives a request for anelectronic content, such as a web page, an application, or media, etc.,from one of user terminals 102. Thereafter, the content delivery system106 assembles the content package in response to the request andtransmits the assembled content package to the requesting one of userterminals 102. In some embodiments, the server has preselected thecontent package before the request is received. The assembled contentpackage can include text, graphics, audio, video, executable code or anycombination thereof. Further, the assembled content packages can includeinvitational content designed to inform or elicit a pre-defined responsefrom the user and content that can vary over time. For example, theassembled content package can include one or more types ofadvertisements from one or more advertisers. The content delivery systemcan include a communications interface 107 to facilitate communicationswith the user terminals 102 and any other components familiar to thoseof ordinary skill in the art.

The content delivery system 106 includes a content management module 108that facilitates generation of the assembled content package, which caninclude invitational content. Specifically, the content managementmodule can combine content from one or more primary content providers109 ₁ . . . 109 _(n) (collectively “109”) and content from one or moresecondary content providers 110 ₁ . . . 110 _(n) (collectively “110”) togenerate the assembled content package for the user terminals 102. Forexample, in the case of a web page being delivered to a requesting oneof user terminals 102, the content management module 108 can assemble acontent package by requesting the data for the web page from one of theprimary content providers 109 maintaining the web page. For theinvitational content on the web page provided by the secondary contentproviders 110, the content management module 108 can request theappropriate data according to the arrangement between the primary andsecondary content providers 109 and 110.

Although, primary and secondary providers 109 and 110 are presentedherein as separate entities, this is for illustrative purposes only. Insome cases, the primary and secondary providers 109 and 110 can be thesame entity. Thus, a single entity can define and provide both theprimary and the secondary content.

Although the content management module 108 can be configured to requestthat content be sent directly from content providers 109 and 110, acached arrangement can also be used to improve performance of thecontent delivery system 106 and improve overall user experience. Thatis, the content delivery system 106 can include a content database 112for locally storing/caching content maintained by content providers 109and 110. The data in the content database 112 can be refreshed orupdated on a regular basis to ensure that the content in the database112 is up to date at the time of a request from a user terminal.However, in some cases, the content management module 108 can beconfigured to retrieve content directly from content providers 109 and110 if the metadata associated with the data in content database 112appears to be outdated or corrupted.

In the various embodiments, the content delivery system 106 can alsoinclude a unique user identifier (UUID) database 116 that can be usedfor managing sessions with the various user terminal devices 102. TheUUID database 116 can be used with a variety of session managementtechniques. For example, the content delivery system 106 can implementan HTTP cookie or any other conventional session management method(e.g., IP address tracking, URL query strings, hidden form fields,window name tracking, authentication methods, and local shared objects)for user terminals 102 connected to content delivery system 106 via asubstantially persistent network session. However, other methods can beused as well. For example, in the case of handheld communicationsdevices, e.g. mobile phones, smart phones, tablets, or other types ofuser terminals connecting using multiple or non-persistent networksessions, multiple requests for content from such devices may beassigned to a same entry in the UUID database 116. The delivery system106 can analyze the attributes of requesting devices to determinewhether such requests can be attributed to the same device. Suchattributes can include device or group-specific attributes.

As described above, content maintained by the content providers 109 and110 can be combined according to a predefined arrangement between thetwo content providers, which can be embodied as a set of rules. In anarrangement where the content delivery system assembles the contentpackage from multiple content providers, these rules can be stored in arules database 118 in content delivery system 106. The contentmanagement module 108 can be configured to assemble the content packagefor user terminals 102 based on these rules. The rules specify how toselect content from secondary content providers 110 and primary contentproviders 109 in response to a request from one of user terminals 102.For example, in the case of a web page maintained by one of primarycontent providers 109 and including variable advertisement portions, therules database 118 can specify rules for selecting one of the secondaryproviders 110. The rules can also specify how to select specific contentfrom the selected one of secondary providers 110 to be combined with thecontent provided by one of primary providers 109. Once assembled, theassembled content package can be sent to a requesting one of userterminals 102. However, the content package is not limited to thecontent from content providers 109 and 110. Rather, the content packagecan include other data generated at the content delivery systems 106.

One concern with the arrangement typically entered into by secondarycontent providers 110 is that they can result in invitational content oflittle or no interest being presented to users. As a result, even thougha desired number of impressions can be achieved, the rate of response tosuch invitational content may be low and/or the resulting targetedaudience may be incorrect or suboptimal. Additionally, in most contentdelivery environments, such as that of system 100, the number and typeof providers 109 and 110 are generally not static. For example, thenumber of primary content providers 109 and the amount and type of spacethey provide for secondary content providers 110 can vary over time.Further, the number of secondary content providers 110 can vary overtime, as well as the amount and types of space they require from primarycontent providers 109. Further, the types of users and user terminals ofinterest to the secondary content providers 110 can also vary over time.As a result, selecting optimal invitational content to present to a usercan quickly become complicated in such a dynamic environment.

The various embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods forintelligently targeting invitational content to a user based on usercharacteristics. A first aspect of the present technology providessystems and methods for deriving uncertain user characteristics based onknown data. A second aspect of the present technology provides systemsand methods for generating a custom targeted segment. A third aspect ofthe present technology provides systems and methods for assigning a userto one or more demographic segments. A fourth aspect of the presenttechnology provides systems and methods for assigning a user to one ormore behavioral segments. A fifth aspect of the present technologyprovides systems and methods for prioritizing targeted segmentsassociated with a user.

As used herein, the term “user characteristics” refers to thecharacteristics of a particular user associated with one or more of userterminals 102. User characteristics can include channel characteristics,demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics, andspatial-temporal characteristics. Channel characteristics can define thespecific delivery channel being used to deliver a content package to auser. For example, channel characteristics can include a type ofelectronic content, a type of device or user terminal, a carrier ornetwork provider, or any other characteristic that defines a specificdelivery channel for the content package. Spatial-temporalcharacteristics can define a location, a date, a time, or any othercharacteristic that defines a geographic location and/or a time fordelivery of the content package. Demographic characteristics can definecharacteristics of the users targeted by the content or associated withthe content. For example, demographic characteristics can include age,income, ethnicity, gender, occupation, or any other usercharacteristics. Behavioral characteristics can define user behaviorsfor one or more different types of content, separately or in combinationwith any other user characteristics. That is, different behavioralcharacteristics may be associated with different channel, demographic,or spatial-temporal characteristics. User characteristics can alsoinclude characteristics descriptive of a user's state of mind includingcharacteristics indicative of how likely a user is to click on orconvert an item of invitational content if it were displayed to theuser.

User characteristics can be learned directly or derived indirectly froma variety of sources. For example, the graph 200 in FIG. 2 illustrates asampling of events from which the delivery system 106 can directly learnuser characteristics and/or derive other user characteristics. Eventhough FIG. 2 illustrates a fair number of events as data sources, thefigure should not be considered limiting. As will become apparent fromthe rest of this disclosure, the delivery system can learn of or deriveuser characteristics from any number of other information sources.

In some embodiments, the invitational content provided by the secondarycontent providers 110 is associated with one or more targeted segments.A targeted segment can be viewed as defining a space or region ink-dimensional space, where each of the k dimensions is associated withone of a plurality of user characteristics. This is conceptuallyillustrated in FIG. 3. In the various embodiments, the k dimensions caninclude both orthogonal and non-orthogonal dimensions. That is, some ofthe k dimensions can overlap or can be related in some aspect. Forexample, if separate dimensions are specified for city and state, thesedimensions are non-orthogonal.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user characteristics space 300. Asshown in FIG. 3, the space 300 is defined by demographiccharacteristics, specifically age, income, and ethnicity. Each targetedsegment in space 300 is associated with one or more usercharacteristics. A content provider wishing to present an item ofinvitational content to Spanish users aged between 18 and 20 and havingan income between $50,000 and $70,000, would associate the invitationalcontent with a targeted segment defined by those characteristics andvalues. However, a broader targeted segment could also be associatedwith the item, such as a targeted segment defined by the usercharacteristic age and the value 18 to 20. Although, the space 300 inFIG. 3 is defined in terms of a few demographic user characteristics,other user characteristics can also be used, such as channel,behavioral, and spatial-temporal characteristics described herein.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the content deliverysystem 106 can include a user-profile database 120. The user-profiledatabase 120 can, at least in part, be constructed based on recordeduser characteristics related to one or more users. In some cases, theuser-profile database may contain uncertain or incomplete usercharacteristic values.

The user-profile database 120 can be updated using auser-profile-updater module 122. In some embodiments, theuser-profile-updater module 122 can be configured to add additionalprofile data, update profile data, fill in missing profile data, orderive uncertain user characteristic values from trusted data. A methodof deriving uncertain user characteristics based on trusted data isdescribed in greater detail in FIG. 6 below.

The updater module 122 can also be configured to maintain the profiledatabase 120 to include only more recently acquired data or to re-deriveany uncertain characteristics in order to ensure that the user profileis an accurate reflection of the current state of the user (location,state of mind, behaviors, demographics, etc. can change rapidly). Forexample, the updater module 122 can be configured to maintain theprofile database 120 to include only data from the last two to threemonths. However, the updater module 122 can be configured to adjust thedata in profile database 120 to cover any span of time. In someinstances the updater module 122 can update the profile database 120 inreal-time. In some instances, the updater module 122 can update theprofile database 120 at least every week, or every day. In some cases,the delivery system 106 can receive a direct request to update one ormore user profiles. The update request can come directly from the user'sdevice or any other device capable of communicating with the deliverysystem 106, such as other content delivery networks or websites. In somecases, the delivery system 106 can receive an indirect request to updateone or more user profiles. An indirect request can be the result ofreceiving new user characteristic values. An update request can occur atany time.

In some embodiments, the content delivery system 106 can include asegment database 114 that is used to aid in selecting invitationalcontent to target to users. The segment database 114 stores definedsegments and associations between the segments and users and/orinvitational content that should be targeted to users associated withthe segments. As described above, a targeted segment can be definedbased on one or more user characteristics or derivatives thereof and canbe associated with one or more items of invitational content.Additionally, a targeted segment can be associated with one or moreusers. In some embodiments, by associating a targeted segment with botha user and an item of invitational content, the delivery system canmatch invitational content with users. In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 can update the segment database 114 to add newly definedtargeted segments or to delete targeted segments.

In some cases a targeted segment can be as simple as a single usercharacteristic identifier and a single user characteristic value. Forexample, the common demographic identifiers of gender, age, ethnicity,or income can each be used in defining corresponding targeted segments.A characteristic value can also be assigned to the identifier. Forexample, the values of male, 19, Indian, and $20,000-$30,000 can beassigned to the user characteristics of gender, age, ethnicity, andincome, respectively. However, more complex targeted segments can alsobe defined that consist of one or more identifiers with one or morevalues associated with each identifier. For example, a targeted segmentcan be defined to target a user with the following characteristics:gender, male; age, 19-24; location, Northern California but not SanFrancisco. Additional exemplary segments are described throughout thisdisclosure. Furthermore, targeted segments can correspond to one or moresegments that content providers are likely to easily understand and thuscan quickly identify as being relevant to their content. Additionally,in some embodiments, content providers 109 and 110 can define a customtargeted segment.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can include a customsegment creator module 126. A content provider 109 and 110 can interacteither directly or indirectly with the creator module 126 to define acustom targeted segment. A custom segment can be defined based on one ormore user characteristics known to the delivery system 106. In somecases, a custom targeted segment can be saved to the segment database114 to use later in selecting invitational content. Alternatively, thecustom targeted segment can be used immediately to identify invitationalcontent with or without saving the segment to the segment database 114.An example for custom segment generation is described in greater detailbelow and in FIG. 29.

In some embodiments, the content delivery system 106 can provide asegment assigner module 124. The segment assigner module 124 can apply aset of user characteristics associated with a user (including segmentsto which a user has been previously assigned) to assign the user to oneor more targeted segments. The assigner module 124 can obtain the set ofuser characteristic values from the user profile database 120 and/orfrom the user's activities during the current session. The segmentassigner module 124 can assign a user to one or more defined targetedsegments in the segment database 114, or alternatively, a user can beassigned to a custom targeted segment defined to meet specific goals ofa content provider.

Based on the assigned segments, the user profile database 120 can beupdated to reflect the segment assignments. Additionally, the deliverysystem 106 can use the segment assignments to select targeted content.In some cases, the user profile data in the user profile database 120can change over time so the segment assigner module 124 can beconfigured to periodically update the segment assignments in the userprofile database 120. The segment assignment update can be triggered atspecified intervals, upon detection of a change in the user profiledatabase 120, and/or upon detection of a specified activity in thedelivery system 106.

FIGS. 4A-C are collectively an overview of assigned segments that can beused to select targeted invitational content to be presented to a userand a process of refining the segment assignments for the user based onadditional information and user characteristics learned as the userinteracts with or fails to interact with invitational content presentedto him along the conversion process. As a user interacts with contentover one or more sessions, the delivery system 106 begins to gainadditional knowledge about the user. This knowledge is enhanced when theuser completes certain actions, such as clicking or not clicking on alink and/or completing a conversion. This information can then be usedto assign the user to one or more targeted segments, such as AffluentAuto Intender, High Converting Device, 10 Mile Commuter, Biz Traveler,etc. Using the targeted segments, content providers can targetinvitational content that is likely to be of greater interest to theuser. Methods for segment assignments are described in greater detailbelow.

In some embodiments, the content delivery system 106 can provide asegment-prioritizing module 128 for ordering the targeted segmentsassigned to a user. The prioritization can be influenced by a number offactors, which include the user's context (state of mind of a user withrespect to interest in certain types of content, subject matter ofcontent, progress along a conversion continuum, etc.), a contentprovider's campaign goals, and/or content that is currently availablefor display to the user. A request to prioritize the targeted segmentscan be made explicitly or implicitly by any component in the system 100.For example, a secondary content provider 110 can explicitly requestthat the content delivery system 106 prioritize the targeted segments orthe request can be implicit as part of a request for an assembledcontent package. The resulting prioritized list can be provided, forexample, to the content management module 108, which can then use theinformation to assemble and deliver a content package. Additionally, theprioritized list can be stored, for example in the user profile, forlater use. A method of prioritizing targeted segments is described ingreater detail.

FIG. 5 is an overview of an exemplary user segmentation process 500. Thedelivery system 106 starts with a variety of user characteristics. Basedon these characteristics, a segment generator 502, such as the segmentassigner module 124, can assign the user to a variety of segments, suchas the mobile discovery segments 510, mobile relevance segments 520, andtraditional segments 530. An optimal segment allocator 504, such as thesegment prioritizing module 128, can order the segments assigned to theuser so that segments that are more relevant to the user's currentcontext are at the top of the list. The delivery system 106 can alsoinclude module(s) that carry out the tasks of a performance predictorand optimizer 506. Such module(s) can further prioritize the assignedsegments by predicting user behavior and/or prioritize segments based oncampaign goals and/or context. Furthermore, the delivery system 106 caninclude a custom segment creator 508, such as the custom segment creatormodule 126, which allows content providers to create custom segments.

In the various embodiments, the one or more databases described hereincan be implemented using any type of data structures. Such datastructures include, but are not limited to, data structures forrelational databases, key/value stores, graph databases, hierarchicaldatabases, and distributed or columnar stores. Accordingly, although thevarious embodiments described herein may refer to specific datastructures, in other embodiments such data structures can be substitutedfor any other type of data structure.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of data available from various sources to improve thedelivery to users of invitational content or any other content that maybe of interest to them. The present disclosure contemplates that in someinstances, this gathered data may include personal information data thatuniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specificperson. Such personal information data can include demographic data,location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter ID's,home addresses, or any other identifying information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation data in the present technology can be used to the benefit ofusers. For example, the personal information data can be used to betterunderstand user behavior, facilitate and measure the effectiveness ofadvertisements, applications, and delivered content. Accordingly, use ofsuch personal information data enables calculated control of thedelivered content. For example, the system can reduce the number oftimes a user receives a given ad or other content and can thereby selectand deliver content that is more meaningful to users. Such changes insystem behavior improve the user experience. Further, other uses forpersonal information data that benefit the user are also contemplated bythe present disclosure.

The present disclosure further contemplates that the entitiesresponsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage,or other use of such personal information data will comply withwell-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. Inparticular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacypolicies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting orexceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personalinformation data private and secure. For example, personal informationfrom users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of theentity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further,such collection should occur only after receiving the informed consentof the users. Additionally, such entities would take any needed stepsfor safeguarding and securing access to such personal information dataand ensuring that others with access to the personal information dataadhere to their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entitiescan subject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify theiradherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof advertisement delivery services, the present technology can beconfigured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” ofparticipation in the collection of personal information data duringregistration for services. In another example, users can select not toprovide location information for targeted content delivery services. Inyet another example, users can configure their devices or user terminalsto prevent storage or use of cookies and other objects from whichpersonal information data can be discerned. The present disclosure alsocontemplates that other methods or technologies may exist for blockingaccess to their personal information data.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data. For example, content can beselected and delivered to users by inferring preferences based onnon-personal information data or a bare minimum amount of personalinformation, such as the content being requested by the deviceassociated with a user, other non-personal information available to thecontent delivery services, or publicly available information.

The information gathered about a user, whether public or private can beused directly or indirectly to create the UUID database 116. In many ofthe embodiments discussed herein, a user is first identified in the UUIDdatabase 116 to retrieve, update or write data associated with the userin the UUID database 116.

Identification of the same user in the UUID database can be performed ina variety of ways and the methods employed to identify the user can varydepending on the user's connection type. In one example of identifying auser in the UUID database 116, when the delivery system 106 receives arequest for a content package, the request can include some identifyinginformation associated with the requesting user terminal or theassociated user. This information can then be correlated to an entry inthe UUID database 116 to retrieve an identity of the user. In otherconfigurations, the delivery system 106 can analyze the attributes ofthe requesting device to determine whether such requests can beattributed to a same device. In some embodiments, a user's behavior invisiting the same content channels can be used to identify the user. Ofcourse combinations of the methods for identifying a user on one or moreconnection types can be used.

As mentioned above a set of user characteristic values can also beassociated with a user in the UUID database 116. In some embodiments,the set of user characteristic values are descriptive of the user. Forexample, the characteristic values could be demographic characteristics,such as gender, age, ethnicity, and/or income. In some embodiments, theset of user characteristic values are descriptive of the user'sinteraction with one or more items of content within a network oftargeted content delivery channels. For example, the characteristicvalues can include details of the user's conversion history with respectto previously presented invitational content. The conversion history canbe limited to whether or not the user converted or could be moredetailed to include where on the conversion continuum the user abandonedthe process, details about the invitational content presented, and/orwhere or when the invitational content was presented. The collectedvalues can further include the channel, the device the user was using,the time of day, and/or day of week. In general, the values can bedescriptive of any characteristics associated with the user and theuser's actions such as channel, demographic, behavioral, and/orspatial-temporal characteristics. The more extensive the data set themore effective the targeting.

In some embodiments, the user characteristic values can be collectedfrom one or more databases. For example, if the user is registered withan online media service, such as the ITUNES store maintained by AppleInc. of Cupertino, Calif., the collected data could include the user'sregistration information and purchase history within the differentcategories of available media. Possible purchase history characteristicsinclude, but are not limited to, preferred purchase categories, spendlevel, and recent purchase frequency. Each of these characteristics canbe further specialized so as to apply to the various types of mediaavailable, such as apps, music, movies, television shows, and books.Some of the purchase history characteristics, as well as other usercharacteristics in general, can be relative to other users. For example,spend level can be based on a predefined scale or it can be based on theuser's spending habits in relation other users, e.g. the user could be ahigh, average, or low spender.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can determine usercharacteristic values associated with user characteristics that arepre-defined in the delivery system 106. For example, age is a possibleuser characteristic that might be pre-defined in the delivery system106. A particular age, such as 19, is a user characteristic value thatthe delivery system 106 can collect and associate with the age usercharacteristic.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 is configured to deriveuncertain user characteristics. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating stepsin an exemplary method 600 for deriving uncertain user characteristicsassociated with a user. For the sake of clarity, this method isdiscussed in terms of an exemplary system such as is shown in FIG. 1.Although specific steps are shown in FIG. 6, in other embodiments amethod can have more or less steps than shown.

Periodically, the content delivery system 106 determines one or morecharacteristics of at least one product associated with an identifieduser (602). A product associated with the identified user can includeproducts that the user has viewed in an online store, products that auser has purchased from an online store, products that are in a user'smultimedia library, etc. Even products that are known to have beenadvertised to the user can be considered a product associated with theuser. The characteristics of a product are similarly wide ranging. Theycan include demographics commonly associated with the products such asage range of targeted or typical purchasers, content category, genre (ifapplicable), product type, product color, size, etc.

From the product characteristics, user characteristics can be inferred(604). For example, a user's age range can be inferred based on thetargeted demographic of the product, or from the known ages of otherusers that bought the same products. A user's interest in music, or typeof music and movies, can also be inferred from the productcharacteristics. More generally, the type of products that the user isinterested in can also be inferred.

Based on the characteristics inferred from the product characteristics,the delivery system 106 selects invitational content to send to theidentified user from a selection of invitational content configured fortarget users associated with at least a portion of the inferredcharacteristic values (606). In some embodiments, the usercharacteristics are first used to categorize a user into one or moretargeted segments and invitational content is then delivered to the userbased on their inclusion in the targeted segments.

In some embodiments, inferring data from products associated with theuser might not be possible or at least not useful because only a smallnumber of products are associated with the user. In such instances, itcan be helpful to use a similarity algorithm to identify additionalproducts that are similar to the few that are directly associated withthe user. By using the similarity algorithm, the sample size can beincreased and the data derived therefrom is more likely to be reliable.Accordingly, a benefit of the similarity algorithm is that it can resultin an increased confidence score associated with the derived value.

In a similar fashion to that explained above, user characteristics canbe derived or inferred from many sources of data. In some embodiments,the delivery system 106 infers one or more uncertain user characteristicvalues by comparing one or more trusted user characteristic values witha database of data and then inferring the one or more uncertain usercharacteristic values from the comparison. Whether the delivery system106 considers a value trusted can vary depending on the configuration ofthe system. For example, in some cases any value can be consideredtrusted. However, in other cases, the delivery system 106 may only trustvalues that have an associated confidence score greater than a specifiedthreshold value. In some configurations, the delivery system 106 candetect that certain values may not be completely accurate. For example,the delivery system 106 may be able to detect that a user has entered abusiness address for their home address and thus not consider it atrusted value for the purpose of deriving other user characteristicvalues. For example, a user may enter a home address of 1 Infinite Loop,Cupertino, Calif. 95014, which is known to be a commercial address.

Comparison data can be obtained from any type of database such a publicdatabase, like the U.S. Census database, or a private third partydatabase that is accessible to the delivery system 106 or has beenincorporated into the delivery system 106. To illustrate, if one of thetrusted characteristics is the user's address, which was obtained fromthe user's registration information, then the delivery system 106 cancompare that address with the U.S. Census data to infer the user'sestimated income, ethnicity, gender, religion inter alia. A confidencescore can also be assigned to the inferred values. For example, if in aparticular town identified in the Census data, eighty percent of thepeople living in that town fall into the same income range, then thesystem can infer that it is eighty percent likely that a user in thattown falls into that income range and thus, have an eighty percentconfidence in the inferred value being accurate.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 infers one or moreuncertain user characteristic values by comparing the set of usercharacteristic values with a collection of user characteristic valuescollected from a population of users. In some configurations, thedelivery system 106 can obtain the collection of user characteristicvalues for the population of users from the user profile database 120.

To illustrate a method of deriving an uncertain user characteristicvalue from a collection of user characteristic values collected from apopulation of users, consider the table 700 in FIG. 7A. The table 700represents a collection of user characteristic values. Each of the usersin the table 700 has at least one uncertain characteristic value. Thatis, each user is missing a characteristic value. In this example, thedelivery system 106 is attempting to derive one or more uncertaincharacteristic values for the user with UUID 3, so the system comparesuser 3 with the other three users.

From the comparison, the delivery system 106 can identify another useramong the population of users with user characteristic values similar tothe user. Another user among the population of users can be identifiedin a number of different ways. In some embodiments, the delivery system106 can represent the user and each user in the population of users as avector. Then the delivery system 106 can compute the angle between thevector associated with the user and the vectors associated with eachuser in the population of users. The delivery system 106 selects one ormore users in the population of users in which the computed angle isless than a threshold value and can infer missing values in the user'sprofile from the similar user in the population.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can construct a “model”user from a population of users. The “model” user can be constructed byaveraging the user characteristic values of a population of users. Insome configurations, other methods of combining the user characteristicvalues of a population of users can be used. The delivery system 106 canthen use the “model” user as a basis for inferring uncertain usercharacteristic values for the user.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can identify another useramong the population of users by computing an overall similarity value.For each pairing of the user and another user in the population ofusers, the delivery system 106 first computes a similarity value foreach user characteristic. For example, consider the user characteristicage. If the user has an age characteristic value of 19 and another userhas the same age user characteristic, then the delivery system 106 canassign a similarity value of 1 for the age user characteristic. However,if the another user has an age user characteristic value of 21, then thedelivery system 106 can assign a similarity value that is less than orequal to 1. In some configurations, the delivery system 106 can assign asimilarity value of 1 because the user and the another user are in thesame age range, e.g. 19-24. However, the delivery system 106 can assigna value less than 1 even though the user's age user characteristic valueand the another user's age user characteristic value are in the samerange. Other methods of computing the similarity between two values fora particular user characteristic value are possible. In someconfigurations, a different method of computing similarity can be usedfor each user characteristic value. The delivery system 106 is notlimited to a similarity value scale of 0 to 1, other scales are alsopossible, e.g. 0-100.

The delivery system 106 then combines the similarity values for theindividual user characteristic values to create an overall similarityvalue for the pairing of the user and the another user in the populationof users. For example, the overall similarity value can be computed byaveraging the individual user characteristic similarity values for thepairing of the user and the another user. In some embodiments, thesimilarity value for an individual user characteristic can be weightedto give it a greater or lesser impact on the overall similarity value.In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 uses a subset of the usercharacteristic values to compute the similarity between the user andother users in the population. Finally, the delivery system 106 selectsone or more users in the population of users in which the overallsimilarity for the pairing is greater than a threshold value and infersadditional user characteristic values for the user from valuesassociated with the one or more users in the population of users.

Returning to the example based on table 700 in FIG. 7A, the deliverysystem 106 determines that User 3 exhibits a sufficient similarity tothe users with UUID 1 and 4. User 1 is selected because all four of User3's trusted user characteristic values are an exact match with usercharacteristic values associated with User 1, i.e. Gender, Age Range,Movie Category Purchase History, and App Category Purchase History. User4 is selected even though only three of his user characteristic valuesmatch with User 3, i.e. Gender, Age Range, and Movie Category PurchaseHistory. The 75% match was a sufficient level of similarity for theconfiguration of the system. In this case, the delivery system 106 isconfigured such that trusted simply means characteristic values exist.

Then the delivery system 106 infers the one or more unknowncharacteristic values about the user from the another user withcontextual characteristic values similar to the user. Based on the table700, user 3 is missing contextual characteristic information for twocharacteristics: Music Category Purchase History and TV CategoryPurchase History. In this case, because User 1 and User 4 have differingvalues for the Music Category Purchase History characteristic, thedelivery system 106 is unable to infer a value for User 3 for thischaracteristic. In some configurations, the delivery system 106 caninfer the Music Category Purchase History characteristic from User 1because User 3 exhibits a greater degree of similarity with User 1.

The delivery system 106 is able to infer a value for the TV CategoryPurchase History. Based on the characteristics of the similar users, thedelivery system 106 infers that User 3 is likely to be interested in theAction & Adventure TV Category. This is reflected in the updatedcollection of user characteristic values in table 750 in FIG. 7B.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 infers the one or moreuncertain user characteristic values by inferring the one or moreuncertain characteristic values from the set of user characteristicvalues. There are some user characteristics that the delivery system 106can infer simply based on other user characteristics known about theuser. For example, gender, age, and life stage are illustrative usercharacteristics that can, in some cases, be inferred from othercharacteristics known about the user. As an illustration, if one of theknown characteristics is the user's preferred salutation, then it may bepossible to infer the user's gender. In the case where the preferredsalutation is insufficient to make a determination, such as when thepreferred salutation is Dr., then the delivery system 106 can attempt toinfer the gender from other user characteristics such as the user'spurchase history. For example, if the user's purchase history skewstowards categories that are traditionally associated with one gender orthe other, then the delivery system 106, knowing this information, caninfer the user's gender. A method for inferring a gender characteristicvalue is described in greater detail below in FIG. 8. Similarly,purchase history can be used to infer both age and life stagecharacteristics. For example, if the user's purchase history contains amix of children and adult categories, the delivery system 106 may beable to infer that the user's life stage is that of a parent. Methodsfor inferring age and life stage characteristic values are described ingreater detail below in FIG. 21-23.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 assigns a confidence scoreto the values in the set of user characteristic values, where theconfidence score represents the likelihood that the particularcharacteristic value is valid and/or correct for the user. For example,a characteristic can be assigned a value in the range [0,1], where 0indicates no confidence and 1 indicates full confidence. Other relativeindicators of confidence can also be used such as a percentage.

The calculation of a confidence score can depend on a variety offactors. In some configurations, the user characteristic and/or how thecharacteristic is obtained can be a factor in the confidence score. Forexample, a different method may be used to calculate a confidence scorefor a demographic characteristic versus a behavioral characteristic.Furthermore, if there is more than one method to derive a particularcharacteristic value, as is illustrated with the life stagecharacteristic in FIGS. 21 and 22 below, there can be different methodsof calculating the associated confidence score. In some cases, theconfidence score can be related to the number of characteristicsconsidered in deriving the value. The confidence score can also berelated to the strength of the inference used in deriving a new usercharacteristic. In the case where the derived value is based on acollection of characteristic values from a population of users orproducts, the number (sample size) of users in the population orproducts can also factor into the confidence score. In some embodiments,if the confidence score for a characteristic value is less than aspecified threshold value, then the system 106 can, at some point,attempt to re-derive the value to improve the confidence score. Valuesthat are affirmed by multiple methods of attempts to derive acharacteristic can likewise be given a higher confidence score.

To illustrate one method of calculating a confidence score, suppose thecharacteristic is content-driven, e.g. extracted from the content usingtext mining. First, the characteristic value is assigned a score basedon the frequency of the value within the content relative to the inverseof the frequency of the value within all content known to the deliverysystem 106. Then the score is updated to reflect how the value appliesto the particular user. For example, the score can be updated based onhow often the user actually interacts with the content. This score canbe called a relevancy score. Finally, the relevancy score gets convertedinto the confidence score based on how well the value applies to theuser given the context.

In some cases, deriving an uncertain user characteristic value canrequire using one or more derivation methods to arrive at a trustedvalue. For example, FIG. 8 illustrates a full process for deriving agender characteristic value. The derivation method 800 begins at 802,where the delivery system 106 fetches the user's preferred salutationfrom the account database 804. The salutation characteristic could havebeen collected from another database, such as the ITUNES databasemaintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., which stores the user'saccount information. The delivery system 106 then attempts to infer theuser's gender from the fetched salutation (806). FIG. 9A illustrates amethod 900 that can be used to infer gender from the preferredsalutation. First, the delivery system 106 checks if the salutation isMr. (902). If so, the delivery system 106 assigns male to the gendercharacteristic (904) and assigns a confidence score of 1 (910), wherethe confidence score ranges from 0 to 1 and 1 indicates full or nearlyfull confidence. If the salutation is not Mr., then the delivery system106 checks if the salutation is Ms. or Mrs. (906). If so, the deliverysystem 106 assigns female to the gender characteristic (908) and assignsa confidence score of 1 (910). If the salutation is not Mrs. or Ms.,then the delivery system 106 assigns “?” to the gender characteristic(912). Values other than “?” can also be used to indicate that the valueis unknown. After assigning a “?” value, the delivery system 106 doesnot need to update the confidence score because it already had aconfidence score of 0 for the gender characteristic for this user.

After attempting to infer the user's gender at step 806, the deliverysystem 106 checks the confidence score (808). If the confidence scorehas exceeded a specified threshold, then the derivation process iscomplete. Alternatively, the delivery system 106 could also check thegender characteristic field to determine if a valid value has beenentered. However, if the delivery system 106 is not yet confident thatthe derived value, if any, can reliably be used to select targetedcontent for the user, then the delivery system 106 fetches the user'sfirst name at step 810 from the account database 804. The deliverysystem 106 then compares the user's first name at step 812 with the U.S.Census database 814. Using the Census data, the delivery system 106again attempts to infer the user's gender (816). FIG. 9B illustrates amethod 950 that can be used to infer the user's gender from the Censusdata. First, the delivery system 106 checks if the data skews male(952). That is, the delivery system 106 checks if the Census dataindicates that the first name is predominately male. If so, the deliverysystem 106 assigns male to the gender characteristic (954) and assigns aconfidence score (960). In this case, the confidence score is assignedbased on the probability that the first name is male. Historically,there are certain first names that are traditionally only given to malesor females, some that lean towards one sex, and others that arecompletely unisex. If the data does not skew male, then the deliverysystem 106 checks if the data skews female (956). If so, the deliverysystem 106 assigns female to the gender characteristic (958) and assignsa confidence score (960). If the delivery system 106 is unable to infera gender from the Census data, then the delivery system 106 assigns “?”to the gender characteristic (962).

After attempting to infer the user's gender at step 816, the deliverysystem 106 again checks the confidence score (818). If the confidencescore has exceeded a specified threshold, then the derivation process iscomplete. However, if the delivery system 106 is not yet confident inthe derived value, which can happen if the Census data is only slightlyskewed towards one gender, then the delivery system 106 fetches theuser's purchase history from the account database 821 at step 820. Theaccount database 821 can be the same database as account database 804.Using the purchase history, the delivery system 106 again attempts toinfer the user's gender (822). The method 950, illustrated in FIG. 9B,can again be used to infer the user's gender, only this time from thepurchase history. First, the delivery system 106 checks if the dataskews male (952). That is, the delivery system 106 checks if thecategories from which the user purchased content are those predominatelypurchased by male users. If so, the delivery system 106 assigns male tothe gender characteristic (954) and assigns a confidence score (960). Ifthe purchase history data does not skew male, then the delivery system106 checks if the data skews female (956). If so, the delivery system106 assigns female to the gender characteristic (958) and assigns aconfidence score (960). If the delivery system 106 still cannot inferwhether the user is male or female, then the delivery system 106 assigns“?” to the user's gender characteristic (962).

At this point, the delivery system 106 has used all available data in anattempt to derive the unknown characteristic. If the characteristic isstill unknown at the end of the method 800, then the delivery system 106can make another attempt to derive the data at a later time or by adifferent methodology, such as the population similarity methodillustrated through FIGS. 7A and 7B discussed above.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can receive a directrequest to derive one or more unknown user characteristic values and/ora request can be included with a request for invitational content. Insome embodiments, the delivery system 106 can derive the uncertaincharacteristic value in response to a need for the value, such as whenthe delivery system 106 is assigning a user to a particular targetedsegment that relies on the value. In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 can derive uncertain user characteristic values at regularintervals.

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1000 in FIG. 10 can be used to derive acurrent zip code characteristic value. The derivation method 1000 beginsat 1002, where the delivery system 106 maps the user's current locationto a zip code. In some embodiments, the user's location can be providedas a latitude and/or longitude value, however, other methods ofexpressing location are also possible. The location value can beprovided as part of the request for a content package or can be obtainedthrough other interaction with the user. To map the location to a zipcode, the delivery system 106 queries the location database 1004. Thedelivery system 106 then checks if the value returned from the locationdatabase 1004 is valid (1006). Checking for validity can be as simple asverifying that the zip code value is composed of valid characteristicsand is an appropriate length. If the zip code value is not valid, thenthe delivery system 106 can assign “?” to the current zip codecharacteristic (1008). Values other than “?” can also be used toindicate that the value is unknown. Otherwise, the delivery system 106assigns the returned zip code value to the current zip codecharacteristic (1010). In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 canalso assign a confidence score to the current zip code characteristic.Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user'sprofile in the user profile database 120 and/or use the data during thesession to aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1000, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1000 thecurrent zip code characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidencescore is less than a threshold value, the user's location changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 11 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1100 in FIG. 11 can be used to derive ahome zip code characteristic value. The derivation method 1100 begins at1102, where the delivery system 106 fetches the user's billinginformation from an account database 1104. The account database 1104 canbe the user profile database 120 or it could be another database, suchas the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.,which stores user account information. The delivery system 106 thenchecks the billing information to see if it contains a zip code (1106).If there is a zip code, then delivery system 106 assigns it to the homezip code characteristic (1110). In some embodiments, the delivery system106 can verify that the zip code value is valid prior to assigning it tothe home zip code characteristic. Checking for validity can be as simpleas verifying that the zip code value is composed of validcharacteristics and is an appropriate length. However, if the billinginformation is lacking a zip code, the delivery system 106 checks thebilling information for a street and city (1108). If the billinginformation also lacks this information, the delivery system 106 assigns“?” to the home zip code characteristic (1112). Values other than “?”can also be used to indicate that the value is unknown. If the deliverysystem 106 did find a street and city in the billing information, thedelivery system 106 maps the information to a zip code (1114). To mapthe street and city to a zip code the delivery system 106 queries theaddress database 1116. The delivery system 106 then checks if the valuereturned from the address database 1116 is valid (1118). If the zip codevalue is not valid, then the delivery system 106 can assign “?” to thehome zip code characteristic (1120). Otherwise, the delivery system 106assigns the returned zip code value to the home zip code characteristic(1122). In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the home zip code characteristic. Once the value isderived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1100, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1100 thehome zip code characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidencescore is less than a threshold value, the user's billing informationchanges, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic. The method 1200 in FIG. 12 can be used to derive acurrent city characteristic value. The derivation method 1200 begins at1202, where the delivery system 106 maps the user's current location toa city. In some embodiments, the user's location can be provided as alatitude and/or longitude value, however, other methods of expressinglocation are also possible. The location value can be provided as partof the request for a content package or can be obtained through otherinteractions with the user. To map the location to a city, the deliverysystem 106 queries the location database 1204. The delivery system 106then checks if the value returned from the location database 1204 isvalid (1206). Checking for validity can be as simple as verifying thatthe value is non-null, that the value is composed of valid characters,or that the value is the name of a known city. If the city value is notvalid, then the delivery system 106 can assign “?” to the current citycharacteristic (1208). Values other than “?” can also be used toindicate that the value is unknown. Otherwise, the delivery system 106assigns the returned city value to the current city characteristic(1210). In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the current city characteristic. Once the value isderived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1200, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1200 thecurrent city characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidencescore is less than a threshold value, the user's location changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 13 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1300 in FIG. 13 can be used to derive ahome city characteristic value. The derivation method 1300 begins at1302, where the delivery system 106 fetches the user's billinginformation from an account database 1304. The account database 1304 canbe the user profile database 120 or it could be another database, suchas the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.,which stores user account information. The delivery system 106 thenchecks the billing information to see if it contains a city (1306). Ifthere is a city, then delivery system 106 assigns it to the home citycharacteristic (1310). However, if the billing information is lacking acity, the delivery system 106 checks the billing information for a zipcode (1308). If the billing information also lacks this information, thedelivery system 106 assigns “?” to the home city characteristic (1312).Values other than “?” can also be used to indicate that the value isunknown. If the delivery system 106 did find a zip code in the billinginformation, the delivery system 106 maps the information to a city(1314). To map the zip code to a city the delivery system 106 queriesthe address database 1316. The delivery system 106 then checks if thevalue returned from the address database 1316 is valid (1318). Checkingfor validity can be as simple as verifying that the value is non-null,that the value is composed of valid characters, or that the value is thename of a known city. If the city value is not valid, then the deliverysystem 106 can assign “?” to the home city characteristic (1320).Otherwise, the delivery system 106 assigns the returned city value tothe home city characteristic (1322). In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 can also assign a confidence score to the home citycharacteristic. Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 canupdate the user's profile in the user profile database 120 and/or usethe data during the session to aid in selecting appropriate invitationalcontent.

After completing the derivation method 1300, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1300 thehome city characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence scoreis less than a threshold value, the user's billing information changes,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 14 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1400 in FIG. 14 can be used to derive acurrent designated market area (DMA) characteristic value. Thederivation method 1400 begins at 1402, where the delivery system 106maps the user's current location to a DMA. In some embodiments, theuser's location can be provided as a latitude and/or longitude value,however, other methods of expressing location are also possible. Thelocation value can be provided as part of the request for a contentpackage or can be obtained through other interaction with the user. Tomap the location to a DMA, the delivery system 106 queries the locationdatabase 1404. The delivery system 106 then checks if the value returnedfrom the location database 1404 is valid (1406). Checking for validitycan be as simple as verifying that the value is non-null, that the valueis composed of valid characters, or that the value is the name of aknown DMA. If the DMA value is not valid, then the delivery system 106can assign “?” to the current DMA characteristic (1408). Values otherthan “?” can also be used to indicate that the value is unknown.Otherwise, the delivery system 106 assigns the returned DMA value to thecurrent DMA characteristic (1410). In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 can also assign a confidence score to the current DMAcharacteristic. Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 canupdate the user's profile in the user profile database 120 and/or usethe data during the session to aid in selecting appropriate invitationalcontent.

After completing the derivation method 1400, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1400 thecurrent DMA characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidencescore is less than a threshold value, the user's location changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 15 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1500 in FIG. 15 can be used to derive ahome designated market area (DMA) characteristic value. The derivationmethod 1500 begins at 1502, where the delivery system 106 fetches theuser's billing information from an account database 1504. The accountdatabase 1504 can be the user profile database 120 or it could beanother database, such as the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc.of Cupertino, Calif., which stores user account information. Thedelivery system 106 then checks the billing information to see if itcontains a zip code (1506). If the billing information lacks a zip code,the delivery system 106 assigns “?” to the home DMA characteristic(1508). However, if the delivery system 106 did find a zip code in thebilling information, the delivery system 106 maps the information to aDMA (1510). To map the zip code to a DMA, the delivery system 106queries the DMA database 1512. The delivery system 106 then checks ifthe value returned from the DMA database 1512 is valid (1514). Checkingfor validity can be as simple as verifying that the value is non-null,that the value is composed of valid characters, or that the value is thename of a known DMA. If the DMA value is not valid, then the deliverysystem 106 can assign “?” to the home DMA characteristic (1516).Otherwise, the delivery system 106 assigns the returned DMA value to thehome DMA characteristic (1518). In some embodiments, the delivery system106 can also assign a confidence score to the home DMA characteristic.Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user'sprofile in the user profile database 120 and/or use the data during thesession to aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1500, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1500 thehome DMA characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence scoreis less than a threshold value, the user's billing information changes,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 16 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1600 in FIG. 16 can be used to derive acountry characteristic value. The derivation method 1600 begins at 1602,where the delivery system 106 maps the user's mobile country code (MCC)to a country. In some embodiments, the user's MCC value can be providedas part of the request for a content package or can be obtained throughother interaction with the user. To map the MCC to a country, thedelivery system 106 queries the country database 1604. The deliverysystem 106 then checks if the value returned from the country database1604 is valid (1606). Checking for validity can be as simple asverifying that the value is non-null, that the value is composed ofvalid characters, or that the value is the name of a known country. Ifthe country value is not valid, then the delivery system 106 can assign“?” to the current country characteristic (1608). Values other than “?”can also be used to indicate that the value is unknown. Otherwise, thedelivery system 106 assigns the returned country value to the countrycharacteristic (1610). In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 canalso assign a confidence score to the country characteristic. Once thevalue is derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profilein the user profile database 120 and/or use the data during the sessionto aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1600, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1600 thecountry characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence score isless than a threshold value, the user's MCC changed, and/or a specifiedperiod of time has expired.

FIG. 17 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1700 in FIG. 17 can be used to derive acurrent time zone characteristic value. The derivation method 1700begins at 1702, where the delivery system 106 maps the user's currentlocation to a time zone. In some embodiments, the user's location can beprovided as a latitude and/or longitude value, however, other methods ofexpressing location are also possible. The location value can beprovided as part of the request for a content package or can be obtainedthrough other interaction with the user. To map the location to a timezone, the delivery system 106 queries the location database 1704. Thedelivery system 106 then checks if the value returned from the locationdatabase 1704 is valid (1706). Checking for validity can be as simple asverifying that the value is non-null, that the value is composed ofvalid characters, or that the value is the name of a known time zone. Ifthe time zone value is not valid, then the delivery system 106 canassign “?” to the current time zone characteristic (1708). Values otherthan “?” can also be used to indicate that the value is unknown.Otherwise, the delivery system 106 assigns the returned time zone valueto the current time zone characteristic (1710). In some embodiments, thedelivery system 106 can also assign a confidence score to the currenttime zone characteristic. Once the value is derived, the delivery system106 can update the user's profile in the user profile database 120and/or use the data during the session to aid in selecting appropriateinvitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1700, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1700 thecurrent time zone characteristic is still unknown, an assignedconfidence score is less than a threshold value, the user's locationchanged, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 18 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1800 in FIG. 18 can be used to derive ahome time zone characteristic value. The derivation method 1800 beginsat 1802, where the delivery system 106 fetches the user's billinginformation from an account database 1804. The account database 1804 canbe the user profile database 120 or it could be another database, suchas the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.,which stores user account information. The delivery system 106 then mapsthe billing information to a time zone (1806). To map the billinginformation to a time zone, the delivery system 106 queries the timezone database 1808. The query could be based on the entire billingaddress, the zip code, the city and state, or any combination of valuesfound in the billing address. The delivery system 106 then checks if thevalue returned from the location database 1808 is valid (1810). Checkingfor validity can be as simple as verifying that the value is non-null,the value is a single value, that the value is composed of validcharacters, or that the value is the name of a known time zone. If thetime zone value is not valid, then the delivery system 106 can assign“?” to the current time zone characteristic (1812). Values other than“?” can also be used to indicate that the value is unknown. Otherwise,the delivery system 106 assigns the returned time zone value to the hometime zone characteristic (1814). In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 can also assign a confidence score to the home time zonecharacteristic. Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 canupdate the user's profile in the user profile database 120 and/or usethe data during the session to aid in selecting appropriate invitationalcontent.

After completing the derivation method 1800, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1800 thehome time zone characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidencescore is less than a threshold value, the user's billing informationchanged, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 19 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 1900 in FIG. 19 can be used to derive adate and day part characteristic value. The date and day part usercharacteristic is associated with a day and time of day value. The timeof day can be values descriptive of a time of day such as dawn, dusk,morning, noon, lunch time, afternoon, commuting hours, etc. or aparticular time during the day, e.g. 7 am. The date can be a particularday of the week, e.g. Monday; a value descriptive of a part of the week,e.g. workday, weekend; a day of the month, e.g. January 1; or any othervalue that describes a date.

The derivation method 1900 begins at 1902, where the delivery system 106maps the user's current location to a time zone. In some embodiments,the user's location can be provided as a latitude and/or longitudevalue, however, other methods of expressing location are also possible.The location value can be provided as part of the request for a contentpackage or can be obtained through other interactions with the user. Tomap the location to a time zone, the delivery system 106 queries thelocation database 1904. The delivery system 106 then checks if the valuereturned from the location database 1904 is valid (1906). Checking forvalidity can be as simple as verifying that the value is non-null, thatthe value is composed of valid characters, or that the value is the nameof a known time zone. If the time zone value is not valid, then thedelivery system 106 can assign “?” to the date and day partcharacteristic (1908). Values other than “?” can also be used toindicate that the value is unknown. Otherwise, the delivery system 106uses the time zone value to map the server time to local device time(1910). Based on the local device time, the delivery system 106 assignsthe date and day part value to the date and day part characteristic(1912). In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the date and day part characteristic. Once the valueis derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 1900, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 1900 thedate and day part characteristic is still unknown, an assignedconfidence score is less than a threshold value, the user's locationchanged, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 20 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2000 in FIG. 20 can be used to derivean age range characteristic value. The derivation method 2000 begins at2002 where the delivery system 106 fetches the purchase history from anaccount database 2004. The account database 2004 could be the userprofile database 120 or it could be another database, such as the ITUNESdatabase maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., which storesaccount information. After fetching the purchase history, the deliverysystem 106 maps the user's purchases to age ranges (2006). To map thepurchased content to age ranges, the delivery system 106 queries thecontent age range database 2008. The content age range database 2008contains associated age ranges for a variety of content. This databasecan be populated by first manually constructing sets of representativecontent for each age range by genre, category, item, etc. (2014). Forexample, educational apps could be assigned an age range of 5-13. Thistype of age range classification can be performed for all types ofcontent available for purchase, e.g. apps, music, movies, televisionshows, books, etc. The representative sets can then be fed to arecommendation system or similarity engine, to expand the set(s) ofitems (2012).

Using the obtained age ranges for the purchased content, the deliverysystem 106 picks the age range with maximum pieces of content (2010).For example, if eighty percent of the content purchased is associatedwith the age range 5-13, then the delivery system 106 picks the 5-13 agerange. In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can be configured topick an age range based on the age ranges associated with a single typeof content. Alternatively, the delivery system 106 can be configured topick from the age ranges associated with multiple types of content.Finally, the delivery system 106 assigns the selected age range to theage range characteristic (2016).

In some cases, the delivery system may not be able to select a singleage range because the user has not purchased any content, the content isevenly distributed across multiple age ranges, or the contentdistribution does not weigh heavily enough towards one age range. Inthis case, the delivery system 106 can assign “?” to the age rangecharacteristic. Values other than “?” can also be used to indicate thatthe value is unknown. In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 canalso assign a confidence score to the age range characteristic. Once thevalue is derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profilein the user profile database 120 and/or use the data during the sessionto aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2000, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2000 theage range characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence scoreis less than a threshold value, the user's purchase history has changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 21 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2100 in FIG. 21 can be used to derivelife stage and marital status characteristic values. The derivationmethod 2100 begins at 2102, where the delivery system 106 fetches theuser's address from an account database 2104. The account database 2104can be the user profile database 120 or it could be another database,such as the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino,Calif., which stores user account information. The delivery system 106then fetches all users with the same address from the account database2108 (2106). The account database 2108 can be the same database as theaccount database 2104 or it can be another database. After collectingall users with the same address, the delivery system 106 forms a“family” unit from the users (2110). Before the delivery system 106 cancharacterize the users in the “family” unit, the delivery system 106 hasto obtain the user characteristics for each user in the “family” unit(2111). In some embodiments, the delivery system can obtain the usercharacteristics from the user profile database 120. In some cases, thegender and/or age characteristics may be missing from the user profile.In this case, the delivery system can derive the missingcharacteristic(s) using the methods 800 or 2000 described above or someother derivation method.

To derive the life stage and marital status characteristic values, thedelivery system 106 examines the gender and age characteristics of eachof the users in the “family” unit. First, the delivery system 106 checksif the “family” unit contains both a male and female user with agegreater than the marital status age threshold, 25 in this example(2114). If the delivery system 106 identifies such users, then they areeach assigned a marital status characteristic of married (2116). Anyadditional, users in the “family” unit can be assigned the maritalstatus characteristic of single. If the check for a male and female userwith age greater than the marital status age threshold fails, thedelivery system 106 assigns a marital status characteristic value ofsingle to each user in the “family” unit (2112). In this example themarital status age threshold is 25, however, other values can also beused for the threshold value. In some embodiments, the marital statusage threshold can vary by geographic region.

After assigning married or single to each user in the “family” unit atstep 2116, the delivery system 106 checks for users under the child-agethreshold in the “family” unit (2120). If users under the child-agethreshold are identified, the delivery system 106 assigns a life stagevalue of child to these users and a life stage value of parent to theusers identified in step 2114 (2126). If no users under the child-agethreshold are identified, then husband and wife values are assigned tothe life stage characteristics of the users identified in step 2114(2128). In this example the child-age threshold is 18, however, othervalues can also be used for the threshold value. The child-age thresholdcan vary by geographic region.

After assigning single to each user in the “family” unit at step 2112,the delivery system 106 checks for users under the child-age thresholdin the “family” unit (2118). If users under the child-age threshold areidentified, the delivery system 106 assigns a life stage value of childto these users (2122) and a life stage value of adult to any other users(2124).

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the life stage and marital status characteristicvalues. Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 can updatethe user's profile in the user profile database 120 and/or use the dataduring the session to aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2100, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2100 thelife stage and/or marital status characteristics are still unknown, anassigned confidence score is less than a threshold value, the usercharacteristics of one or more users in the “family” unit have changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 22 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2200 in FIG. 22 can be used to derive alife stage user characteristic value. The derivation method 2200 beginsat 2202 where the delivery system 106 fetches the purchase history froman account database 2204. The account database 2204 could be the userprofile database 120 or it could be another database, such as the ITUNESdatabase maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., which storesaccount information. After fetching the purchase history, the deliverysystem 106 maps the user's purchases to age ranges (2206). To map thepurchased content to age ranges, the delivery system 106 queries thecontent age range database 2208. The content age range database 2208contains associated age ranges for a variety of content. This databasecan be populated by first manually constructing sets of representativecontent for each age range by genre, category, item, etc. (2214). Forexample, educational apps could be assigned an age range of 5-13. Thistype of age range classification can be performed for all types ofcontent available for purchase, e.g. apps, music, movies, televisionshows, books, etc. The representative sets can then be fed to arecommendation system or similarity engine, to expand the set(s) ofitems (2212).

The delivery system 106 also obtains the user's age (2210). In somecases, the delivery system 106 can obtain this information from the userprofile database, from an account database, or by deriving the valuefrom other user characteristic values known about the user. To derivethe user's age, the delivery system can use method 2000 in FIG. 20 aboveor any other method for deriving a user's age. Once the delivery systemhas the user's age, the delivery system 106 checks if the user's age isgreater than the child-age threshold (2216). If the user is under thechild-age threshold, the delivery system 106 assigns child to the lifestage user characteristic for the user (2220). In this example thechild-age threshold is 18, however, other values can also be used forthe threshold value. The child-age threshold can vary by geographicregion.

If the user is over the child-age threshold value, the delivery system106 checks if the user is over the parent-age threshold (2222). If theuser is over the child-age threshold, but under the parent-agethreshold, the delivery system 106 assigns adult to the life stage usercharacteristic for the user (2224). If the user is over the parent-agethreshold, the delivery system 106 examines the user's purchase history,which has associated age classifications, to determine if the purchasehistory includes content traditionally used by user's under 18 (2226).If so the, the delivery system 106 assigns a life stage value of parentto the user (2230). If not, the delivery system 106 assigns a life stagevalue of adult to the user (2228). In this example the parent-agethreshold is 25, however, other ages can be used to demarcate the adultand parent boundaries. Additionally, the parent-age threshold can varyby geographic region.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the life stage characteristic. Once the value isderived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2200, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2200 thelife stage characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence scoreis less than a threshold value, the age and/or purchase history of theuser have changed, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 23 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2300 in FIG. 20 can be used to derivean ethnicity characteristic value. The derivation method 2300 begins at2302 where the delivery system 106 fetches the purchase history from anaccount database 2304. The account database 2304 could be the userprofile database 120 or it could be another database, such as the ITUNESdatabase maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., which storesaccount information. After fetching the purchase history, the deliverysystem 106 maps the user's purchases to language codes (2306). To mapthe purchased content to language codes, the delivery system 106 queriesthe language code database 2307. The language code database 2307 canagain be another database, such as the ITUNES database maintained byApple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., or any other database or multipledatabases with such information. In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 may not need to perform step 2307 because the purchasehistory will already contain the associated language codes.

After obtaining the language codes, the delivery system 106 checks ifthe language codes are Japanese, Chinese, or Korean (2308). If the checkat step 2308 is true, the delivery system 106 assigns Asian to theethnicity characteristic (2310) and the derivation method is complete.However, if the check at step 2308 fails, the delivery system 106 checksif the language codes are Spanish (2312). If the check at step 2312 istrue, the delivery system 106 assigns Latino to the ethnicitycharacteristic (2314) and the derivation method is complete.

If the check at step 2312 fails, the delivery system 106 can draw onother user characteristics to derive the ethnicity characteristic.First, the delivery system 106 fetches the user's first and last namefrom the account database 2317 (2316). In some embodiments, the accountdatabase 2317 can be the same database as account database 2304.Alternatively, the account database 2317 can be a separate database thatstores user account information. The delivery system 106 then comparesthe user's first and last name at step 2318 with the U.S. Censusdatabase 2320, or any other census database. Using the Census data, thedelivery system 106 checks if the data skews towards one single ethnicbackground (2322). If the data does lean towards a single ethnicbackground, the delivery system 106 assigns the ethnicity value to theethnicity characteristic (2324). In some embodiments, the deliverysystem 106 can assign a confidence score to the ethnicity value at thispoint based on how heavily the data is skewed towards a single ethnicbackground.

If the census data does not skew towards a single ethnic background, thedelivery system 106 can then examine the user's music purchase historyto attempt to derive the user's ethnicity. First, the delivery system106 fetches the user's music purchase history from the account database2327 (2326). In some embodiments, the account database 2327 can be thesame database as account database 2304 and/or account database 2317. Insome embodiments, the delivery system 106 can skip step 2326 and insteadextract the music purchase history from the purchase history informationobtained in step 2302. Once the delivery system 106 obtains the musicpurchase history, the delivery system 106 maps it to content categories(2328), such as Country, Hip-Hop, Latino, World, etc. The mapping isaccomplished by querying a content category database 2030. If the musicpurchase history indicates that 80% of purchases are in the Countrymusic category or the music purchase history does not include any musicfrom the World music category, then the delivery system 106 assignsCaucasian to the ethnicity characteristic (2332). If the purchasehistory indicates that 80% of purchases are in the Latino music categorythen the delivery system 106 assigns Latino to the ethnicitycharacteristic (2334). Otherwise, the delivery system 106 assigns “?” tothe ethnicity characteristic (2338). Values other than “?” can also beused to indicate that the value is unknown. In some embodiments, otherrules for analyzing the music categories to infer ethnicity can also beused.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the ethnicity characteristic. Once the value isderived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2300, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2300 theethnicity characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence scoreis less than a threshold value, the user's purchase history has changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 24 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2400 in FIG. 24 can be used to derivean income characteristic value. The derivation method 2400 begins at2402, where the delivery system 106 fetches the user's billinginformation from an account database 2404. The account database 2404 canbe the user profile database 120 or it could be another database, suchas the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.,which stores user account information. The delivery system 106 thencompares the user's billing information at step 2406 with the U.S.Census database 2408, or any other census database, to obtain data onaverage income levels where the user lives. The delivery system 106 canalso compare the user's billing information with one or more other thirdparty databases 2412 (2410) to gather more data on income levels wherethe user lives. After obtaining data from a variety of sources, thedelivery system 106 analyzes the data at step 2414. Based on theanalysis, the delivery system generates an income estimate for the userand assigns it to the income characteristic (2416).

In some embodiments, the delivery system can use other information toinfer the user's income. For example, if the delivery system 106 hasaccess to the user's occupation this information could aid in refiningan estimate of the user's income. Purchase history could also possiblyaid in deriving the user's income.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the income characteristic. Once the value isderived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2400, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2400 theincome characteristic is still unknown, an assigned confidence score isless than a threshold value, the user's account information has changed,and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 25 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2500 in FIG. 25 can be used to derive apreferred purchase categories characteristic value. The derivationmethod 2500 begins at 2502 where the delivery system 106 fetches thepurchase history from an account database 2504. The account database2504 could be the user profile database 120 or it could be anotherdatabase, such as the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. ofCupertino, Calif., which stores account information. After fetching thepurchase history, the delivery system 106 maps the purchased content tocategories/genres (2506). To map the purchased content tocategories/genres, the delivery system 106 queries the content categorydatabase 2508. The content category database 2508 can be anotherdatabase, such as the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. ofCupertino, Calif., or any other database or multiple databases with suchinformation. Using the category mapping, the delivery system 106examines the user's preferred purchase categories for each content typeindependently, e.g. apps, music, movies, television shows, etc. At step2510, the delivery system checks if there are content types for whichthe system still needs to create a preference list. If there are, thedelivery system 106 generates a frequency distribution for the purchasesfor the content type, e.g. app, by category at step 2512. Then thedelivery system 106 computes the percentages each category representsout of the total purchases for the content type (2514). For example, ifthe app categories were social networking and sports, the deliverysystem would determine what percentage of app purchase were socialnetworking apps and what percentage where sports apps. Then for each ofthe categories the delivery system adds the category to the preferredcategories list if the percentage computed at step 2514 is greater than20% (2516). In some embodiments, a higher or lower percentage can beused when determining whether a particular category should be consideredpreferred. Finally, the system assigns the list of preferred categoriesto the preferred categories characteristic for that content type (2518).After assigning the values to the characteristic, the delivery systemloops back to step 2510 to check if there are other content types toprocess.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the one or more preferred purchase categoriescharacteristics. Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 canupdate the user's profile in the user profile database 120 and/or usethe data during the session to aid in selecting appropriate invitationalcontent.

After completing the derivation method 2500, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2500 oneor more preferred purchase category characteristics is still unknown, anassigned confidence score is less than a threshold value, the user'spurchase history has changed, and/or a specified period of time hasexpired.

FIG. 26 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2600 in FIG. 26 can be used to derive aspend level characteristic value. The derivation method 2600 begins at2602 where the delivery system 106 fetches the purchase history from anaccount database 2604. The account database 2604 could be the userprofile database 120 or it could be another database, such as the ITUNESdatabase maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., which storesaccount information. At step 2606, the delivery system checks if thereare content types for which the spend level characteristic still needsto be derived. If there are, the delivery system 106 calculates thetotal amount spent over the last 30 days for that content type, e.g.music (2608). In some embodiments, other time periods can also be used.For example the spend level can be based on a 1 year time period, 6months, 1 week, etc.

In some embodiments, the spend level characteristic can be a relativecharacteristic where deciles are generated based on the spending habitsof other users or deciles are generated based on a predefined scale. Ineither case, the delivery system 106 fetches the spend level deciles forthe content type from the deciles database 2612 (2610). The decilesdatabase 2612 can be the same database as the account database 2604 orany other database or even multiple databases. In some embodiments, thedeciles database 2612 can be different databases for the differentcontent types. After the delivery system 106 has calculated the amountspent by the user and obtained the spend level deciles, the deliverysystem 106 identifies the decile to which the user belongs (2614). Insome embodiments, the deciles can be ranked and assigned numbers such asdecile 1, decile 2, etc. In some embodiments, the deciles are simplyranges.

Once the delivery system 106 has identified the user's decile, thedelivery system 106 checks if the user's decile is in the top 1-3deciles (2616). If so, the delivery system 106 assigns “high” to thespend level characteristic for the content type, e.g. music spend levelcharacteristic (2620). If the user is not in deciles 1-3, then thedelivery system 106 checks if the user's decile is 4-7 (2618). If so,the delivery system 106 assigns “medium” to the user's spend level forthe content type (2622). If the user is not in deciles 1-3 or 4-7 thenthe delivery system assigns “low” to the spend level characteristic forthe content type (2624).

In some embodiments, the spend level characteristic can be derived foreach category/genre of the content type. For example, the user's spendlevel can be calculated for each music genre, e.g. country musiccategory spend level, reggae music category spend level, etc. In someembodiments, the spend level characteristic can be derived for allcontent types together.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the one or more spend level characteristics. Oncethe value is derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user'sprofile in the user profile database 120 and/or use the data during thesession to aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2600, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2600 oneor more spend level characteristics is still unknown, an assignedconfidence score is less than a threshold value, the user's purchasehistory has changed, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 27 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2700 in FIG. 27 can be used to derive apurchase frequency characteristic value. The derivation method 2700begins at 2702 where the delivery system 106 fetches the purchasehistory from an account database 2704. The account database 2704 couldbe the user profile database 120 or it could be another database, suchas the ITUNES database maintained by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.,which stores account information. At step 2706, the delivery systemchecks if there are content types for which the purchase frequencycharacteristic still needs to be derived. If there are, the deliverysystem 106 calculates the purchase frequency based on the purchase'stimestamps over the last month for that content type (2708). In someembodiments, other time periods can also be used. For example thepurchase frequency can be based on a 1 year time period, 6 months, 1week, etc.

In some embodiments, the purchase frequency characteristic can be arelative characteristic where deciles are generated based on thepurchasing habits of other users or deciles can be generated based on apredefined scale. In either case, the delivery system 106 fetches thepurchase frequency deciles for the content type from the decilesdatabase 2712 (2710). The deciles database 2712 can be the same databaseas the account database 2704 or any other database or even multipledatabases. In some embodiments, the deciles database 2712 can bedifferent databases for the different content types.

After the delivery system 106 has calculated the purchase frequency bythe user and obtained the purchase frequency deciles, the deliverysystem 106 identifies the decile to which the user belongs (2714). Insome embodiments, the deciles can be ranked and assigned numbers such asdecile 1, decile 2, etc. In some embodiments, the deciles are simplyranges.

Once the delivery system 106 has identified the user's decile, thedelivery system 106 checks if the user's decile is in the top 1-3deciles (2716). If so, the delivery system 106 assigns “high” to thepurchase frequency characteristic for the content type, e.g. musicpurchase frequency characteristic (2720). If the user is not in deciles1-3, then the delivery system 106 checks if the user's decile is 4-7(2718). If so, the delivery system 106 assigns “medium” to the user'spurchase frequency for the content type (2722). If the user is not indeciles 1-3 or 4-7 then the delivery system assigns “low” to thepurchase frequency characteristic for the content type (2724).

In some embodiments, the purchase frequency characteristic can bederived for each category/genre of the content type. For example, theuser's purchase frequency can be calculated for each music genre, e.g.country music category purchase frequency, reggae music categorypurchase frequency, etc. In some embodiments, the purchase frequencycharacteristic can be derived for all content types together.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the one or more purchase frequency characteristics.Once the value is derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user'sprofile in the user profile database 120 and/or use the data during thesession to aid in selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2700, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2700 oneor more purchase frequency characteristics is still unknown, an assignedconfidence score is less than a threshold value, the user's purchasehistory has changed, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

FIG. 28 illustrates another example of deriving an uncertain usercharacteristic value. The method 2800 in FIG. 28 can be used to derive awork-home-commute characteristic value. The derivation method 2800begins at 2802, where the delivery system 106 maps the user's currentlocation to a zone within a map of residentially-zoned areas, commutingcorridors, and commercially-zoned areas. In some embodiments, the user'slocation can be provided as a latitude and/or longitude value, however,other methods of expressing location are also possible. The locationvalue can be provided as part of the request for a content package orcan be obtained through other interaction with the user. To map thelocation to a zone, the delivery system 106 queries the locationdatabase 2804. The delivery system 106 then checks if the value returnedfrom the location database 2804 is a residentially-zoned area (2806). Ifso, the delivery system 106 assigns the value “home” to thework-home-commute characteristic (2808). If the user's zone is not in aresidentially-zoned area, the delivery system 106 checks if the user'szone is in a commuting corridor (2810). If so, the delivery system 106assigns the value “commuting” to the work-home-commute characteristic(2812). If not, the delivery system 106 checks if the user's zone is ina commercially-zoned area (2814). If so, the delivery system 106 assignsthe value work to the work-home-commute characteristic (2816). If not,the delivery system 106 assigns the value “?” to the work-home-commutecharacteristic (2818). Values other than “?” can also be used toindicate that the value is unknown.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can also assign aconfidence score to the work-home-commute characteristic. Once the valueis derived, the delivery system 106 can update the user's profile in theuser profile database 120 and/or use the data during the session to aidin selecting appropriate invitational content.

After completing the derivation method 2800, there are a number of casesin which the delivery system 106 may need to repeat this action. Suchscenarios include, but are not limited to, at the end of method 2800 thework-home-commute characteristic is still unknown, an assignedconfidence score is less than a threshold value, the user's locationchanged, and/or a specified period of time has expired.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 is configured to permitcontent providers 109 and 110 to create custom targeted segments.Accordingly, a user interface (UI) can be provided for communicatingwith a user interface module 111 for performing such tasks. The UI forUI module 111 can be accessed via an end user terminal in communicationwith the delivery system 106. For example, the end user terminal can bea user interface device associated with any of content providers 109 and110. The UI and UI module 111 can be configured to operate in a varietyof client modes, including a fat client mode, a thin client mode, or ahybrid client mode, depending on the storage and processing capabilitiesof the delivery system 106 and/or the end user terminal. Therefore, a UIfor UI module 111 can be implemented as a standalone applicationoperating at the end user terminal in some embodiments. In otherembodiments, a web browser-based portal can also be used to provide theUI for the UI module 111. Any other configuration to remotely or locallyaccess the delivery system 111 can also be used in the variousembodiments. The UI and UI module 111 can be configured to providecontent providers the ability to manipulate, select, and customizetargeted segments.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an exemplary method 2900for generating custom targeted segments. For the sake of clarity, thismethod is discussed in terms of an exemplary system such as is shown inFIG. 1. Although specific steps are shown in FIG. 29, in otherembodiments a method can have more or less steps than shown.

To generate a custom segment the delivery system 106 identifies acollection of characteristic values from a plurality of characteristicsmanaged by the delivery system 106 (2902). The delivery system 106 cancontain a set of predefined user characteristics such as any of thechannel, demographic, behavioral, and/or spatial-temporalcharacteristics described above, including derived characteristics,and/or any other characteristics descriptive of a user or a user'sinteraction with one or more items of targeted content. For example,gender, age, and occupation are all demographic characteristics that canbe predefined in the delivery system 106.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 analyzes a group of usersto identify a collection of characteristics common to a specifiedpercentage of the users. The group of users can be selected in any way,e.g. all users with a common characteristic value; users associated witha past electronic campaign that meet a specified performance criteria,e.g. all users that completed the associated conversion action, etc.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 identifies the collectionof characteristic values based on input received from a contentprovider. In this case, the UI and UI module 111 can present the set ofcharacteristics managed by the delivery system 106 to a content providerthat is interested in using a custom targeted segment for contentdelivery. The content provider can then identify a collection ofcharacteristics from that set. The collection of characteristics can bepresented in a number of different ways such as through a graphical userinterface (GUI) or a command-line interface.

In some embodiments, the UI can provide one or more selection objects(e.g. drop down boxes, check boxes, etc.) so as to enable selection of auser characteristic. In some cases, these selection objects can belinked. For example, if a country is selected in one drop down box, astate drop down box automatically filters the drop down values to onlycountry-specific states, and so forth. In some configurations, once auser characteristic is selected, a user characteristic value selectionobject and/or input box appears. For example, an expandable check boxcan be used such that when the box is selected, the available associatedvalues appear along with check boxes. The user characteristic valueselection object can contain values specific to the associated usercharacteristic identifier. For example, for the gender characteristic,male and female check boxes can appear. The UI can also include aportion for content providers to input their own parameters (e.g.weights, Boolean operators, etc.).

The collection of characteristics can also be based upon thecharacteristics found in a pre-defined targeted segment. In this case,the UI can provide a selection object so as to enable selection of anexisting targeted segment. Once selected, the UI can display thecharacteristics and any characteristic values used to define theexisting targeted segment. Then the ability to add and/or removecharacteristics and/or characteristic values can be provided.

The manner in which a content provider indicates a selection can varywith the configuration of the system. In a system configured where thecollection of user characteristics is presented in a drop down box, thecontent provider can simply highlight a characteristic to select it. Ina system configured where the collection of user characteristics ispresented with an associated check box, selecting the associated checkbox can indicate a selection. Alternatively, entering a usercharacteristic in an input box can indicate a selection.

In some embodiments, one or more user characteristic values can beassociated with a user characteristic. The delivery system 106 cancontain a set of predefined values for each contextual characteristicidentifier. The UI and UI module 111 can present the set of values in anumber of different ways such as through a drop down box in a graphicaluser interface. In this case, the content provider could simply selectthe one or more user characteristic values desired. Alternatively, atext box can be presented and the content provider can enter a desiredvalue. The user characteristic value can take a variety of differentforms. For example, it can be a single value, e.g. female; multiplevalues, e.g. Jazz, Blues, Pop; or a range of values, e.g. 19-21.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can provide feedbackregarding the segment of users that fit within the custom segment as acontent provider selects user characteristics and user characteristicvalues. This feedback can be in the form of a percentage of the usersand/or total number of users included in the custom segment. In someconfigurations, the feedback can be a visual representation of thesegment of the user population to which the custom targeted segmentwould apply. Other methods of providing feedback are also possible. Thisfeedback can aid a content provider in creating a custom segment thatprecisely meets their needs.

Once the delivery system 106 identifies the collection of characteristicvalues, the delivery system 106 defines at least one custom segment atthe content delivery system 106 specifying at least the collection ofcharacteristic values (2904).

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can combine the one or morecharacteristics through the use of one or more Boolean operators, suchas AND, OR, or NOT. The Boolean operator can be applied to the usercharacteristics and/or the user characteristic values. For example, acustom targeted segment could specify the gender characteristic AND theage characteristic. In this case, when the delivery system 106 uses thecustom targeted segment for content delivery, the delivery system 106will only deliver content associated with this segment to users thatsatisfy both the gender and age requirements. As a second example, acustom targeted segment can specify a location characteristic.Associated with that characteristic the custom segment can specify twouser characteristic values: a particular home designated market area andNOT a particular home zip code. In this case, when the delivery system106 uses the custom targeted segment for content delivery, the deliverysystem 106 will deliver content associated with the targeted segment tousers with characteristic values that match the home designated marketarea specified in the custom segment unless their home zip codecharacteristic value matches the home zip code value specified in thecustom segment.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can assign a weight to oneor more user characteristics and/or user characteristic values. Forexample, a characteristic and/or characteristic value can be assigned aweight in the range [0, 1], where 0 indicates no weight and 1 indicatesfull weight. Other relative scales can also be used. In someconfigurations, weights can be used to indicate that the delivery system106 can present invitational content associated with the custom targetedsegment even if the rule is not fully satisfied, so long as thecharacteristics and/or characteristic values with higher weight aresatisfied.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can assign an identifier tothe custom targeted segment. In some configurations, the contentprovider who created the custom targeted segment can supply theidentifier. For example, in a system configured with a GUI, the GUI caninclude an input box for the purpose of naming the segment.Alternatively, the UI and UI module 111 can include a save option thatprompts the user for a segment name as part of the saving process. Othermethods of receiving an identifier from the content provider arepossible. In some configurations, the UI and UI module 111 canautomatically create an identifier for the custom segment. For example,the identifier can be based on the name of the content provider.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 can assign a weight to thecustom targeted segment. As described above, a variety of scales can beused to assign a weight. In some configurations, weights can be used toindicate that when more than one segment can be used to deliverinvitational content, content associated with the segment with a higherweight should be selected first. The weight can be used for otherpurposes as well.

In some configurations, the segment identifier can be used to identifythe segment at a later time. In some embodiments, the delivery system106 saves the custom targeted segment to a storage location such as thesegment database 114. By saving the custom targeted segment, thedelivery system 106 can use the segment at a later point to identifytargeted content to present to a user. In some configurations, thesegment identifier can be used to locate the saved custom targetedsegment. However, the delivery system 106 can use the custom targetedsegment to select invitational content without saving the segment.

Finally, the delivery system 106 books an electronic campaign with thecontent delivery system comprising at least one inventory slot from theinventory space, wherein the inventory slot is defined in the bookedelectronic campaign based on at least the custom segment (2906). Thebooking step can include associating one or more items of invitationalcontent with the custom segment and/or specifying a campaign goal.

In some embodiments, as part of the booking step, the delivery system106 can associate one or more content providers with the custom targetedsegment. In some configurations, the delivery system 106 can associate asingle content provider with a custom targeted segment. In this case,only the single associated content provider can use the segment todeliver targeted content. In other configurations, the delivery system106 can associate any number of content providers with the customtargeted segment, and thus, any of the associated content providers canuse the custom targeted segment to deliver targeted content to a user.

In some configurations, as part of the booking step, the delivery system106 can identify all of the target users that fit with the customtargeted segment. Based on this identification the delivery system 106can assign the user to the custom segment and/or select targeted contentto deliver to the users.

FIG. 30 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) 3000 forgenerating a custom segment. The GUI 3000 includes 4 tabbed panels, i.e.demographics, preferences, spend levels, and frequency; each presentinga particular category of user characteristics. The panel selected inthis example is the demographics panel 3002. In this case, thecollection of available user characteristics includes: age group,gender, income, ethnicity, life stage, and marital status, which areeach presented with an associated check box. To include a characteristicin the custom segment, a content provider simply selects the associatedbox. Additionally, each characteristic is presented with an expandablelist of available user characteristic values. For example, the gendercharacteristic can be expanded to permit the selection of male and/orfemale values. This makes it possible for a content provider to create acustom segment that targets users with particular user characteristicvalues, e.g. only male users or only female users. The GUI 3000 alsoincludes an input box 3004 that can be used to assign an identifier,i.e. a name, to the custom targeted segment. Finally, the GUI 3000includes a create button 3006 to finalize the process of creating thecustom targeted segment.

In some embodiments, the delivery system 106 is configured to assignusers to a targeted segment of the user population. Accordingly, asegment assigner module 124 can be provided for performing theassignments. The delivery system 106 can also include a segment database114 that stores previously defined targeted segments. The previouslydefined targeted segments can be based on channel, demographic,behavioral, and/or spatial-temporal characteristics. The definition of atargeted segment can include one or more user characteristics. Forexample, a targeted segment can be defined to target a segment of thepopulation shaped by gender and age. Additionally, a user characteristicvalue for a characteristic can be a single value, multiple values, arange of values, multiple ranges of values, or any combination thereof.For example, for the age characteristic, acceptable values include 19;19-24; 25-29; etc. In some embodiments, a user characteristic value canbe a wildcard value, which indicates that any value is an acceptablematch for the user characteristic.

Having defined segments to work with, the assigner module 124 cananalyze one or more user characteristic values and one or more targetedsegment definitions to determine if the user fits within a populationsegment defined by a targeted segment. The delivery system 106 can thenuse the segment assignments to select invitational content targeted atthe assigned segment to send to the user.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an exemplary method 3100for selecting invitational content to send to the user based ondemographic segmentation. For the sake of clarity, this method isdiscussed in terms of an exemplary system such as is shown in FIG. 1.Although specific steps are shown in FIG. 31, in other embodiments amethod can have more or less steps than shown. When a request forcontent is received, the delivery system 106 delivers invitationalcontent targeted to a user based on an association between the user anda first segment (3102).

After delivering invitational content, the delivery system evaluatesfeedback descriptive of the user's interaction with the invitationalcontent targeted to the user (3104). This feedback can include anyinformation regarding the user's interaction with the content such aswhether the user clicked on any links; how long the user interacted withthe content; whether the user completed the associated conversionaction; if the user did not complete a conversion, where on theconversion continuum the user abandoned the process, etc. Informationregarding the user's interaction with the content can also include auser's depth of interaction with the targeted content i.e., how far intothe targeted content the user navigated, which is a measure of thequality of the user's interaction. Such feedback can be used to inferuser characteristics, interests and a user's present context.

Periodically, the delivery system 106 analyzes at least onecharacteristic within a profile associated with the user, the profilebeing a record of characteristics associated with the user (3106). Insome embodiments, the delivery system 106 can include a user profiledatabase 120. A user profile can include information descriptive of theuser and/or the user's interaction with various items of contentincluding purchased content. In this case, the delivery system 106 canfetch the user profile from the user profile database 120 and thenselect the characteristics from the user profile. In some embodiments,the delivery system 106 can determine the at least one characteristic inreal-time based on the identified user's activities during the currentsession. Alternatively, the at least one characteristic can be includedwith the request for an item of invitational content.

In some cases, one or more user characteristic values used define atargeted segment of the population of users is uncertain. To addressthis issue, the delivery system 106 can infer/derive the value fromtrusted values. The delivery system 106 can use the derivation method3100 described in FIG. 31 above or any other method to infer/derive theuncertain value. The delivery system 106 can also use other usercharacteristic values to infer unknown characteristic values.

As part of the derivation method, the delivery system 106 can assign aconfidence score to the derived value, where the confidence scorerepresents the likelihood that the particular characteristic is validand/or correct. For example, a characteristic can be assigned a value inthe range [0,1], where 0 indicates no confidence and 1 indicates fullconfidence. Other relative indicators of confidence can also be usedsuch as a percentage. As described above, the calculation of theconfidence score can depend on the user characteristic, how thecharacteristic is obtained, the number of characteristics considered,the number of users considered, etc.

After analyzing the at least one characteristic, the delivery system 106assigns the user into a second segment based on the feedback and atleast one user characteristic, the second segment being a grouping ofusers that share a degree of commonality with respect to theirinteraction with the invitational content targeted to the user (3108).The segment assigner module 124 can assign the user to a targetedsegment based on the user characteristic values. In some cases, acharacteristic value can have an associated confidence score and thesystem 106 can be configured to only use characteristic values thatexceed a specified threshold when assigning a user to a targetedsegment. In some configurations, the delivery system 106 can assign aconfidence score to the targeted segment assignment. In this case, anyconfidence scores associated with any user characteristic values can befactored into the confidence score for the segment assignment. In someembodiments, the delivery system 106 can use the segment assignmentconfidence score in determining whether the segment should be used inselecting invitational content for the user. For example, if theconfidence score is below a specified threshold, the delivery system 106may not use the segment assignment for selecting invitational content.The delivery system 106 can update the user profile database 120 toreflect the segment assignments.

Finally, the delivery system 106 targets additional invitational contentto the user based on their assignment to the second segment (3110). Insome embodiments, a content provider can associate one or more items ofinvitational content with the targeted segment associated with theinferred value. The delivery system can then select from the items ofinvitational content associated with the targeted segment.

In some embodiments, the methods illustrated in FIG. 8-28 can be used toinfer one or more demographic values. These inferred demographic valuescan serve as the bases for one or more targeted segments and can be usedto target invitational content to the identified user.

In some embodiments, method 3100 is performed only when the deliverysystem 106 receives a request for invitational content. In otherconfigurations, the delivery system 106 can monitor the usercharacteristics associated with one or more users. When one or morevalues changes, the system can re-infer and re-assign the one or moreusers to targeted segments. For example, for a period of time the usermight purchase all of their music from the Jazz category. Based on thiscontextual characteristic, the user might be assigned to a segment thattargets Jazz listeners. At some later period, the user might begin topurchase music from the Blues category. These purchases will alter thevalue for the recent purchase frequency characteristic. When thisoccurs, the system 106 can re-analyze the set of user characteristicsagainst the one or more rules. Based on the new analysis, the system 106can update the segments to which the user is assigned. In this example,the user may no longer be assigned to the segment that targets Jazzlisteners. In some configurations, the delivery system 106 canperiodically re-infer and re-assign the users to targeted segments.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an exemplary method 3200for assigning a user to a behavioral targeted segment and using thesegment assignment to select invitational content to send to the user.For the sake of clarity, this method is discussed in terms of anexemplary system such as is shown in FIG. 1. Although specific steps areshown in FIG. 32, in other embodiments a method can have more or lesssteps than shown.

First, the delivery system 106 analyzes user characteristic data relatedto an identified user for behavioral patterns (3202). Behavioralpatterns that can be identified based on the user characteristic datainclude for example patterns that can indicate a user's present orlong-term intent or interest. Some examples include identifying theusers propensity to convert or click on an item of invitational content;identifying when a user is about to, or is traveling; identifying when auser is researching a product or content, etc. From the analysis of theuser characteristic data the system can infer interests in variousproducts or user intent (3204) and categorize the user into a behavioralsegment representative of that interest or intent (3206).

The analyzing step can be conducted using one or more rules, of whichsome examples are below, but in some embodiments, machine learningalgorithms, and predictive algorithms can be used to predict userintents and interests.

In some embodiment classifying algorithms can be used for the behavioralsegmentation. The following are several descriptive examples of such:

Cross-channel Mavens—users that access content on a cellular network,wireless network, and wired network in the same session more than 3times per week.

Affluentials—users are both affluent and influential—that have ahousehold income greater than $120,000 and that complete more than 3conversions per week.

Money and Brains—users that have a household income greater than$150,000 and that interact with financial and technology content in morethan 10 sessions per week.

Comfort Zone—users that interacted with content from their home locationless than an hour ago and the user performed a search for local contentin the past hour.

Out of Comfort Zone—users that interacted with content from a locationthat is not their home location less than an hour ago and searched fortravel content in the past hour.

InTransit—users that interact with content from more than one locationin a single session.

Home Based—users that interact with content from their home location.

Biz Traveler—users that interact with content from more than 5 locationsin a single month and interact with content from a private InternetProtocol address.

Leisure Travel—users that interact with content from a resort locationand search for local content from a location outside of their homelocation.

Heavy Sports User—users where more than 80% of the content they interactwith via a cellular or wireless network is sports content and the userspends more than 4 minutes per day interacting with sports content.

Converter or Click Lookalikes—users that matches the behavior pattern ofa user who has completed the associated conversion action for thecontent.

Gizmo Geek—users that have more than 5 page views on technology sitesand 4 utility applications and clicked on mobile site and targetedlaptop product category in last 5 days.

Auto Enthusiast—users that have more than 5 page views on auto sites inthe past 14 days.

Globetrotters—users that consistently have an observed location greaterthan 1000 miles from their home location every 2 months.

Affluent Auto Intender—users that have a household income greater than$120,000, have interacted with auto sites in more than 10 sessions inthe past 5 days, and optionally have viewed auto reviews and/or autovideos.

Social Butterflies—users that interact with a social networkingapplication more than 5 times in a single day.

Entertainment Buffs targeted segment—users that have more than 5 pageviews on entertainment sites in a week, more than 3 video applications,and more than 70% of cellular network usage is video or more than 4music purchases per week.

Deal Follower targeted segment—defined to target users that are intransit and whose location is equal distance from two competitive retaillocations.

Tween Device Persona—users that use portable multimedia player devicesthat are not connected to a cellular network.

As evident from many of the targeted segments identified above,real-time or at least frequently refreshed user characteristic data isused to assign users to these segments. In such instances, the data canbe discarded after the user has been classified into the segments. Insome embodiments purging some data also serves the benefit of needing tostore less sensitive information about a user. Such purging is not onlyuseful with respect to behavioral data, but can also be used withrespect to recording user characteristics (which can themselves bederived from some real time data) or any other segmentation. Once thedata is used to identify the sought after characteristics it can bediscarded because it is no longer needed.

As may be evident from the above discussion, a user can potentially begrouped into many segments and thus eligible to receive targeted contentfor each of those segments. However, some segments can be more importantor valuable or have more content than others. In some embodiments, thedelivery system 106 is configured to create a prioritized list oftargeted segments assigned to a user. Accordingly, a segmentprioritizing module 128 can be provided for performing theprioritization. The prioritizing module 128 can be configured to take alist of targeted segments and order the list based on a specified goal.In some cases, the specified goal can be a campaign goal provided by acontent provider and/or an optimization.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an exemplary method 3300for prioritizing segments assigned to a user. For the sake of clarity,this method is discussed in terms of an exemplary system such as isshown in FIG. 1. Although specific steps are shown in FIG. 33, in otherembodiments a method can have more or less steps than shown. First, thecontent delivery system 106 identifies one or more targeted segmentsassociated with the user (3302). In some cases, the delivery system 106can assign the user to one or more targeted segments based on ananalysis of the user characteristics and the targeted segmentsmaintained by the delivery system 106. The delivery system 106 can usemethods 3100 in FIGS. 31 and 3200 in FIG. 32 in the segment assignmentor any other segment assignment methods. In some embodiments, thedelivery system 106 may have already performed the segment assignmentsand the assignments are stored in the user profile in the user profiledatabase 120.

Next, the delivery system 106 prioritizes the one or more targetedsegments based on a specified goal, the goal associating a targetedsegment with a target objective (3304). The goal can be specified by acontent provider and/or the delivery system 106. In some embodiments, acampaign goal can specify one or more targeted segments and a targetobjective. The target objective can be expressed in several ways. Forexample, the target objective can specify a maximum budget not to beexceeded. In another example, the target objective can specify a budgetthat varies based on segment. That is, different cost objectives can bespecified for different targeted segments. Additionally, other types oftarget objects can also be used. For example, these can includeperformance metrics, such as click-through rate (CTR), an effective costper thousand impressions (eCPM), a target conversion rate, a target fillrate, user engagement, to name a few. Further, any combination of targetobjectives can be used in the present technology. For example, a targetobjective can specify both CTR and eCPM.

The prioritizing module 128 can analyze the list of targeted segmentsassigned to a user and determine the ideal ordering of those segmentswith respect to the associated target objective. In some embodiments,the prioritizing module 128 can perform the analysis based oncharacteristics of the user. The prioritizing module 128 can obtainthese characteristics in a number of ways. In some cases, thecharacteristics can be stored in the user profile database 120, whichthe prioritizing module 128 can access. The characteristics can also beprovided as part of the request to perform the prioritization.

In some configurations, the delivery system 106 considers the user'scontext in ranking the assigned segments. In this case, the deliverysystem 106 ranks higher those segments that are more relevant to theuser's current context. For example, if the delivery system 106 detectsthat the user is traveling, then the delivery system 106 will ranktravel related segments higher.

In some configurations, the delivery system 106 makes a prediction as tothe level of interest of the user with respect to one or more items ofinvitational content. In this case, the delivery system 106 ranks higherthose segments that are more likely to be of interest to the user. Forexample, if the delivery system 106 detects that the user is more likelyto be interested in content offered by one rental car company ratherthan another, segments associated with that content will be rankedhigher.

In some configurations, the delivery system 106 can rank the segmentsconsidering both context and level of interest. In this case, a segmentmight have a high ranking when considering the user's content, but endup with a lower ranking because the level of interest is low. Forexample, if the delivery system 106 detects that the user is traveling,the delivery system 106 can rank rental car content high, but contentfrom a particular car rental company can be ranked lower in the listbecause the user is unlikely to be interested in the content. In somecases, one or more segments that are assigned to the user will not beranked because the content is not applicable to the context, the user isunlikely to be interested, there is not content applicable to thecurrent campaign goals, etc.

In the case where a campaign goal specifies more than one targetobjective, the prioritizing module 128 can integrate the one or moretarget objectives in the prioritization to create a balance between theobjectives. For example, one objective could be to maximize CTR while asecond could be to minimize cost. In some configurations, a weight canbe assigned to the target objectives and the weights can be consideredwhen integrating the one or more target objectives.

The segment prioritization can occur at various times. For example, thedelivery system 106 can be configured to trigger the prioritizing module128 at specified intervals. Alternatively, the prioritizing module 128can order the segments when the delivery system 106 receives a requestfor invitational content. In some configurations, the prioritizingmodule 128 can monitor the user characteristics and/or target objectiveand perform the prioritization when a change in the user characteristicsand/or target objective is detected.

In some configurations, a campaign goal can additionally specify a matchcriteria for the one or more segments specified in the goal. That is,for at least one of the targeted segments in the goal, the goal caninclude acceptable variations in the user characteristic identifiersand/or user characteristic values. For example, the goal can specify atargeted segment with a location user characteristic and the city of SanFrancisco as the user characteristic value. The associated matchcriteria can specify a user characteristic value of northern Californiafor the location user characteristic identifier. Such a match criteriacan make it possible to match the goal with a greater number of targetedsegments.

After prioritizing the segments, the delivery system 106 can use theordered list to aid in selecting invitational content to deliver to theuser. To illustrate, suppose a user is assigned to segments a, b, c, andd and the associated target objective for these segments is to maximizethe CTR. After analyzing the characteristics of the user, theprioritizing module 128 determines the user is most likely to clickthrough on content related to segment c followed by b, d, and a. Whenthe delivery system 106 receives a request for invitational content forthe user, the delivery system 106 will first attempt to deliver contentassociated with segment c. If no content exists for segment c, thedelivery system 106 will go down the prioritized list and pick contentassociated with the next best segment.

FIG. 34 illustrates an exemplary segment assignment prioritizationprocess 3400. In this example, User 3422123 is assigned to 8 segments(3402). The prioritizing module takes these 8 segments along with theirassociated campaign goals and ranks the segments in a manner thatoptimizes the campaign goals (3404). It should be noted that in thisexample, that the user was assigned to 8 segments, but afterprioritizing the segments only a subset of the segments are currentlyused for targeting content. As mentioned above, the user's context andthe currently available content/campaign goals are used in determiningthe prioritization. In this case, a couple of the segments were notapplicable to the user's context and/or the campaign goals.

Also factoring into the segment prioritization scheme is a predictiveperformance module, which predicts the effect of prioritizing onesegment over another and how it can affect other system priorities. Forexample if the segments are being ordered to ensure that each item ofinvitational content is interacted with a specified number of times, thepredictive performance module can run a variety of virtual “what ifscenario” models to predict if a particular prioritization of segmentswill achieve the systems goals. In one example of how this can work, ifthe goal is to get five clicks on targeted content directed to rentalcars from two competitor companies, the predictive performance modulewill rule out any ordering of segments that will always provide targetedcontent from one company before the other because it will reduce thelikelihood that the second item of invitational content presented to theuser will be clicked on. Accordingly, the predictive performance modulewould select a different ordering of segments and ultimately choose thebest ordering to optimize the system to meet its goals.

With reference to FIG. 35, an exemplary system 3500 includes ageneral-purpose computing device 3500, including a processing unit (CPUor processor) 3520 and a system bus 3510 that couples various systemcomponents including the system memory 3530 such as read only memory(ROM) 3540 and random access memory (RAM) 3550 to the processor 3520.The system 3500 can include a cache 3522 of high speed memory connecteddirectly with, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of theprocessor 3520. The system 3500 copies data from the memory 3530 and/orthe storage device 3560 to the cache 3522 for quick access by theprocessor 3520. In this way, the cache 3522 provides a performance boostthat avoids processor 3520 delays while waiting for data. These andother modules can be configured to control the processor 3520 to performvarious actions. Other system memory 3530 may be available for use aswell. The memory 3530 can include multiple different types of memorywith different performance characteristics. It can be appreciated thatthe disclosure may operate on a computing device 3500 with more than oneprocessor 3520 or on a group or cluster of computing devices networkedtogether to provide greater processing capability. The processor 3520can include any general purpose processor and a hardware module orsoftware module, such as module 1 3562, module 2 3564, and module 3 3566stored in storage device 3560, configured to control the processor 3520as well as a special-purpose processor where software instructions areincorporated into the actual processor design. The processor 3520 mayessentially be a completely self-contained computing system, containingmultiple cores or processors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. Amulti-core processor may be symmetric or asymmetric.

The system bus 3510 may be any of several types of bus structuresincluding a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. A basicinput/output (BIOS) stored in ROM 3540 or the like, may provide thebasic routine that helps to transfer information between elements withinthe computing device 3500, such as during start-up. The computing device3500 further includes storage devices 3560 such as a hard disk drive, amagnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive, tape drive or the like. Thestorage device 3560 can include software modules 3562, 3564, 3566 forcontrolling the processor 3520. Other hardware or software modules arecontemplated. The storage device 3560 is connected to the system bus3510 by a drive interface. The drives and the associated computerreadable storage media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputing device 3500. In one aspect, a hardware module that performs aparticular function includes the software component stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium in connection with the necessaryhardware components, such as the processor 3520, bus 3510, display 3570,and so forth, to carry out the function. The basic components are knownto those of skill in the art and appropriate variations are contemplateddepending on the type of device, such as whether the device 3500 is asmall, handheld computing device, a desktop computer, or a computerserver.

Although the exemplary embodiment described herein employs the hard disk3560, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that othertypes of computer readable media which can store data that areaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, digital versatile disks, cartridges, random access memories(RAMs) 3550, read only memory (ROM) 3540, a cable or wireless signalcontaining a bit stream and the like, may also be used in the exemplaryoperating environment. Non-transitory computer-readable storage mediaexpressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagneticwaves, and signals per se.

To enable user interaction with the computing device 3500, an inputdevice 3590 represents any number of input mechanisms, such as amicrophone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphicalinput, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech and so forth. An outputdevice 3570 can also be one or more of a number of output mechanismsknown to those of skill in the art. In some instances, multimodalsystems enable a user to provide multiple types of input to communicatewith the computing device 3500. The communications interface 3580generally governs and manages the user input and system output. There isno restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement andtherefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improvedhardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

For clarity of explanation, the illustrative system embodiment ispresented as including individual functional blocks including functionalblocks labeled as a “processor” or processor 3520. The functions theseblocks represent may be provided through the use of either shared ordedicated hardware, including, but not limited to, hardware capable ofexecuting software and hardware, such as a processor 3520, that ispurpose-built to operate as an equivalent to software executing on ageneral purpose processor. For example the functions of one or moreprocessors presented in FIG. 35 may be provided by a single sharedprocessor or multiple processors. (Use of the term “processor” shouldnot be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executingsoftware.) Illustrative embodiments may include microprocessor and/ordigital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) 3540 forstoring software performing the operations discussed below, and randomaccess memory (RAM) 3550 for storing results. Very large scaleintegration (VLSI) hardware embodiments, as well as custom VLSIcircuitry in combination with a general purpose DSP circuit, may also beprovided.

The logical operations of the various embodiments are implemented as:(1) a sequence of computer implemented steps, operations, or proceduresrunning on a programmable circuit within a general use computer, (2) asequence of computer implemented steps, operations, or proceduresrunning on a specific-use programmable circuit; and/or (3)interconnected machine modules or program engines within theprogrammable circuits. The system 3500 shown in FIG. 35 can practice allor part of the recited methods, can be a part of the recited systems,and/or can operate according to instructions in the recitednon-transitory computer-readable storage media. Such logical operationscan be implemented as modules configured to control the processor 3520to perform particular functions according to the programming of themodule. For example, FIG. 35 illustrates three modules Mod1 3562, Mod23564 and Mod3 3566 which are modules controlling the processor 3520 toperform particular steps or a series of steps. These modules may bestored on the storage device 3560 and loaded into RAM 3550 or memory3530 at runtime or may be stored as would be known in the art in othercomputer-readable memory locations.

Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure may also includetangible and/or non-transitory computer-readable storage media forcarrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structuresstored thereon. Such non-transitory computer-readable storage media canbe any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose orspecial purpose computer, including the functional design of any specialpurpose processor as discussed above. By way of example, and notlimitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media can include RAM,ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storageor other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be usedto carry or store desired program code means in the form ofcomputer-executable instructions, data structures, or processor chipdesign. When information is transferred or provided over a network oranother communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, orcombination thereof) to a computer, the computer properly views theconnection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of the computer-readable media.

Computer-executable instructions include, for example, instructions anddata which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function orgroup of functions. Computer-executable instructions also includeprogram modules that are executed by computers in stand-alone or networkenvironments. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,components, data structures, objects, and the functions inherent in thedesign of special-purpose processors, etc. that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of the program code means for executing steps of the methodsdisclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represents examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other embodiments of thedisclosure may be practiced in network computing environments with manytypes of computer system configurations, including personal computers,hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, and the like. Embodiments may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by localand remote processing devices that are linked (either by hardwiredlinks, wireless links, or by a combination thereof) through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

The various embodiments described above are provided by way ofillustration only and should not be construed to limit the scope of thedisclosure. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize variousmodifications and changes that may be made to the principles describedherein without following the example embodiments and applicationsillustrated and described herein, and without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of assigning a user to one or more segments of a population comprising: delivering invitational content to a client device associated with the user, the invitational content selected based on an association between the user and a first segment, wherein the invitational content is designed to elicit user interaction corresponding to at least one associated conversion action; evaluating feedback descriptive of the user's interaction with the invitational content on the client device, the feedback capturing a position along a conversion continuum tied to the at least one associated conversion action; analyzing, via a processor, at least one characteristic within a profile associated with the user, the profile being a record of characteristics associated with the user; assigning the user into a second segment based on the feedback and at least one user characteristic, the second segment being a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality with respect to their interaction with the invitational content targeted to the user, the degree of commonality corresponding to the position along the conversion continuum tied to the at least one associated conversion action; and targeting additional invitational content to the user based on assignment to the second segment.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same multiple behavioral characteristics.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user connects to a content delivery system greater than a determined number of times a week using two or more network-connection types, the network-connection types comprising a cellular network connection, a wireless network connection, and a wired network connection.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the second segment includes users with an inferred intent to convert an item and an ability to purchase the item, the user being assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is presented with a determined number of opportunities to convert an item and the user falls into an income category sufficient to convert the item, wherein an opportunity corresponds to an invitational content item.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the second segment includes educated users within a specified income range, the user being assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user commonly visits financial and/or technological content and the user falls into a specified income range.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including a combination of at least a behavioral characteristic and a spatial-temporal characteristic.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the second segment includes users within a predefined distance from their home with an interest in local businesses, the user being assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user is within the predefined distance from his home and has searched for a local business within a predefined period of time.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the second segment includes users that are away from the user's home with an interest in a location away from the user's home, the user being assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user is greater than a predefined distance from the user's home and the user has searched for a location greater than a predefined distance from the user's home.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the second segment includes users that are traveling, the user being assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user's device has made a request for content from several different locations in a session of interaction with a network.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user has interacted with a network from more than five different zip codes from a private Internet Protocol Address within the last month.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user has searched for locations outside the user's home zip code and the user's searches originated from an Internet Protocol address or zip code associated with a resort.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second segment relates to a type of product or content in which the user has an inferred interest.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that a majority of the content that the user views is related to sports and the user spends at least a predefined average amount of time with sport content per day.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user has viewed at least a determined number of automobile content items within a determined period.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic and the evaluation of the feedback reveals that the user has viewed at least a determined number of social networking content items within a determined period.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting the at least one characteristic for the analysis when a confidence score that is associated with the at least one characteristic is greater than a specified threshold value.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable code stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method of assigning a user to one or more segments of a population, the method comprising: delivering invitational content to a client device associated with the user, the invitational content selected based on an association between the user and first segment, wherein the invitational content is designed to elicit user interaction corresponding to at least one associated conversion action; evaluating feedback descriptive of the user's interaction with the invitational content on the client device, the feedback capturing a position along a conversion continuum tied to the at least one associated conversion action; analyzing at least one characteristic associated with the user; assigning the user into a second segment based on the feedback and at least one user characteristic, the second segment being a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality with respect to the at least one characteristic and their interaction with the invitational content targeted to the user, the degree of commonality corresponding to the position along the conversion continuum tied to the at least one associated conversion action; and targeting additional invitational content to the user based on assignment to the second segment.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same multiple behavioral characteristics.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including at least one demographic characteristic.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is within a specified age range.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is within a specified age range and a specific gender.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is a resident of specified geographic region.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including a combination of at least a behavioral characteristic and a spatial-temporal characteristic.
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including a combination of at least a behavioral characteristic and a demographic characteristic.
 25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users exhibiting a behavior indicating an interest in a product and a demographic indicating an ability to purchase the product.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including a combination of at least a demographic characteristic and a spatial-temporal characteristic.
 27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second segment relates to a type of product or content in which the user has an inferred interest.
 28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising: selecting a user characteristic value for the analysis when a confidence score that is associated with the user characteristic value is greater than a specified threshold value.
 29. A system for assigning a user to one or more segments of a population comprising: a processor; a first module configured to control the processor to deliver invitational content to a client device associated with the user, the invitational content selected based on an association between the user and first segment, wherein the invitational content is designed to elicit user interaction corresponding to at least one associated conversion action; a second module configured to control the processor to evaluate feedback descriptive of the user's interaction with the invitational content on the client device, the feedback capturing a position along a conversion continuum tied to the at least one associated conversion action; a third module configured to control the processor to analyze at least one characteristic within a profile associated with the user, the profile being a record of characteristics associated with the user; a fourth module configured to control the processor to assign the user into a second segment based on the feedback and at least one user characteristic, the second segment being a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality with respect to their interaction with the invitational content targeted to the user, the degree of commonality corresponding to the position along the conversion continuum tied to the at least one associated conversion action; and a fifth module configured to control the process to target additional invitational content to the user based on assignment to the second segment.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including at least one demographic characteristic.
 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is within a specified age range.
 32. The system of claim 30, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is within a specified age range and a specific gender.
 33. The system of claim 30, wherein the user is assigned to the second segment when the analysis of the at least one characteristic reveals that the user is a resident of a specified geographic region.
 34. The system of claim 29, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same multiple behavioral characteristics.
 35. The system of claim 29, wherein the second segment is a grouping of users that share a degree of commonality amongst the same characteristics including a combination of at least a behavioral characteristic and a spatial-temporal characteristic.
 36. The system of claim 29, wherein the second segment relates to a type of product or content in which the user is likely interested.
 37. The system of claim 29, further comprising: a sixth module configured to control the processor to select a user characteristic value for the analysis when a confidence score that is associated with the user characteristic value is greater than a specified threshold value. 